Just Married and Need Help

[jenaredd]

I am a US Citizen and just married a man from Nicaragua. He is here on a type P1 Non-Immigrant Visa as he is a professional athlete. We met with an attorney and they told us that we only needed to file the I-485 and the I-130 together. However, after doing more research I'm thinking there are way more forms than that. We were told by the attorney that we won't have any issues with being approved as we have proof our marriage is real, and my husband has never been here illegally/done anything illegal.

Here are my questions:

1. What other forms do we need to submit besides the I-485 and the I-130?
2. If I do not "qualify" to support him financially and my parents are willing to sign, what forms would we use?
3. Do we send all of the supporting documents with the forms; such as photos, receipts, joint bank account information, etc. or do we wait for the interview to bring the things?
4. Do we have to send his tax returns in? If so, how do we do that?

Thank you so much in advance!

[WillBen]

Reply to: Just Married Need Help

I am a US Citizen and just married a man from Nicaragua. He is here on a type P1 Non-Immigrant Visa as he is a professional athlete. We met with an attorney and they told us that we only needed to file the I-485 and the I-130 together. However, after doing more research I'm thinking there are way more forms than that. We were told by the attorney that we won't have any issues with being approved as we have proof our marriage is real, and my husband has never been here illegally/done anything illegal.

Here are my questions:

1. What other forms do we need to submit besides the I-485 and the I-130?
2. If I do not "qualify" to support him financially and my parents are willing to sign, what forms would we use?
3. Do we send all of the supporting documents with the forms; such as photos, receipts, joint bank account information, etc. or do we wait for the interview to bring the things?
4. Do we have to send his tax returns in? If so, how do we do that?

Thank you so much in advance!

My Very very long Reply:
Yes there are more forms than that. If you send the forms in separately you will spend more money and wait a longer time. If you send all the forms in together then it will cost less. I completed all forms by myself without any lawyer - Application ran smoothly i have been approved for EAD and advanced parole (travel documents) and I am scheduled for interview next month. I also helped a friend do hers and she was approved for her green card. Here is a list of documents that I sent in:

I-485 - Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status (Fee required)

I-130 - Petition for Alien Relative (fee Required)

I-131 - Application for Travel Document (Former athlete here :-), I assume he will need to travel for the upcoming season, so you will need to fill this out so he can travel for sports and emergencies - (No Fee needed when i filled mine out in September 2016)

G325A - Biographic Information (you will need to fill this out for both yourself and him for various sections of the applications so you will need more than 2 for each person - All I did was filled out 1 each and photocopied it and then signed each by hand) (No Fee)

I-765 - Application for Employment Authorization (Since he is an athlete and on P visa he is not suppose to "legally" work outside of his "field" which is sports (I ahve many friends who are professional athletes :-) ) so I would also fill out this form so that he can work outside of sports if needs be. (No Fee)

I-693 - Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record ( you will need his vaccination record and you will need to go to a specific doctor called a civil surgeon to complete the medical examination, it is valid for 1 yr). The USCIS website has a area locator for the civil surgeons in your location. They vary in price. Some vaccinations may need to be updated (as in my case) and they will do a TB and another test ( I do not think that insurance will cover this). I would get this going now along with the documents for the affidavit of support because they take the longest to get done. (No Fee)

I-864 | Affidavit of Support Under Section 213A of the INA. you will use this form for the affidavit of support. You will need to fill one out (you need to include your W-2's and if you filed taxes, if you did not file taxes you will need to include a letter and say why). Your parent (s) will fill out another one and you will need to include their tax information of what they filed (the more money the better and it depends on how large your household is and dependents etc.). I think of all the forms this is the most tedious one. It is best to get tax transcripts and use W-2's with them if your parents filed jointly. so get the latest tax returns for the last three years or tax transcripts and W-2's. google tax transcript and fill out form and they will send to you very quickly. (No Fee)

G-1145 - E-Notification of Application/Petition Acceptance (PDF, 240 KB) (This is so that you can receive updates online on the USCIS website..makes it easier on you vs. just by mail) (No Fee)

Your going to need:
-Passport size pics of you and him print at-least 6 each
-Copies of marriage certificate and marriage license
-Copies of passport page for him
- Copies of visa page for him
-Copy of valid ID for you
- Copies of birth certificate for you and him
- Copy of valid ID and birth certificate for your parents for the affidavit of support

Do we send all of the supporting documents with the forms; such as photos, receipts, joint bank account information, etc. or do we wait for the interview to bring the things?
Ans: I did not send photos but I did send marriage certificate, joint bank account and lease, telephone bill just in case and just so they would not have a Request for more evidence (RFE) most people I spoke to said I did not need to send those in but like I said I wanted no problems to hinder my application so I sent anyway :-). you will need to send in any immigration documents he has such as I-94, evidence of the P visa etc.

Do we have to send his tax returns in? If so, how do we do that?
ANS: I did not send in any tax returns (I'm the immigrant) so I do not see why he would have to send in any but as you go through the forms you may find that it asks for it. If he is going to be using his income as part of the affidavit of support then you will need his tax info. However my free consult from an immigration lawyer revealed that that is a tedious and complicated process... so if your parents are willing to do affidavit and they meet income requirements then use them. You can have up-to to two forms of support and each must be over the required income. Try and find persons who are not on the borderline of the required income because i have seen during my research online where people said sometimes they requested another sponsor when the original sponsors income was right on the borderline of the required income. You will have to send in tax documents for the affidavit of support to show that you cannot meet requirement.

Here is the USCIS website where forms are located each form comes with an instruction sheet print off each form and instruction sheet and read through it and highlight the sections and documents that are required that apply to you:

https://www.uscis.gov/forms?topic_id=1131&search_q=

You can also request the forms by mail (this is the best option because then you will know that the forms are up to date). You do not want the process to be held up because of out of date forms. So what I did is I downloaded forms online and instructions and highlighted them and pre -filled, then when i was sure everything was correct I entered the final information into the mail requested forms. I would request the maximum of each form that you can request in 1 mailing just in case you make any mistakes.

https://egov.uscis.gov/formsbymail/

Trust this process is not hard and does not need any lawyer with big fees (a lawyer wanted to charge me $4600) ... if he has been here legally it is a simple straight forward process as long as your willing to read and pay attention. Read all the instructions from front to back and highlight the info. I created a check sheet with all the fees and documents and how many of them I needed for each form. I placed each form in a folder and placed the check sheet on the front. and just checked of as I went. I had to do research with large amounts of data so I'm skilled at organizing stuff :-)

You can also find examples of how to fill out each form online... immihelp had some and other did so just google them. For example I looked up how to fill out I-131 when I was filing out my travel document (it has been approved).

Most important- Make sure you sign the documents and make sure you have the correct checks for the fees (the forms will indicate the fees in the instructions) and like I said if you send them in all at once you'll be paying less. Make 2 copies of the entire filled out forms in the order that you will be sending them in including pics, documents, checks etc. put each in a separate binder. Keep one binder for your records and take the other to the interview when it is time. If you use the mail in forms from USCIS make sure you make a back & front copy of the forms (I forgot to do that).

I should have been a lawyer :-)

Goodluck to you and let me know if you need any more info or have any questions

[jenaredd]

I private messaged you through the forum with some more questions

[BerryT]

I am a US Citizen and just married a man from Nicaragua. He is here on a type P1 Non-Immigrant Visa as he is a professional athlete. We met with an attorney and they told us that we only needed to file the I-485 and the I-130 together. However, after doing more research I'm thinking there are way more forms than that. We were told by the attorney that we won't have any issues with being approved as we have proof our marriage is real, and my husband has never been here illegally/done anything illegal.

Here are my questions:

1. What other forms do we need to submit besides the I-485 and the I-130?
2. If I do not "qualify" to support him financially and my parents are willing to sign, what forms would we use?
3. Do we send all of the supporting documents with the forms; such as photos, receipts, joint bank account information, etc. or do we wait for the interview to bring the things?
4. Do we have to send his tax returns in? If so, how do we do that?

Thank you so much in advance!

My Very very long Reply:
Yes there are more forms than that. If you send the forms in separately you will spend more money and wait a longer time. If you send all the forms in together then it will cost less. I completed all forms by myself without any lawyer - Application ran smoothly i have been approved for EAD and advanced parole (travel documents) and I am scheduled for interview next month. I also helped a friend do hers and she was approved for her green card. Here is a list of documents that I sent in:

I-485 - Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status (Fee required)

I-130 - Petition for Alien Relative (fee Required)

I-131 - Application for Travel Document (Former athlete here :-), I assume he will need to travel for the upcoming season, so you will need to fill this out so he can travel for sports and emergencies - (No Fee needed when i filled mine out in September 2016)

G325A - Biographic Information (you will need to fill this out for both yourself and him for various sections of the applications so you will need more than 2 for each person - All I did was filled out 1 each and photocopied it and then signed each by hand) (No Fee)

I-765 - Application for Employment Authorization (Since he is an athlete and on P visa he is not suppose to "legally" work outside of his "field" which is sports (I ahve many friends who are professional athletes :-) ) so I would also fill out this form so that he can work outside of sports if needs be. (No Fee)

I-693 - Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record ( you will need his vaccination record and you will need to go to a specific doctor called a civil surgeon to complete the medical examination, it is valid for 1 yr). The USCIS website has a area locator for the civil surgeons in your location. They vary in price. Some vaccinations may need to be updated (as in my case) and they will do a TB and another test ( I do not think that insurance will cover this). I would get this going now along with the documents for the affidavit of support because they take the longest to get done. (No Fee)

I-864 | Affidavit of Support Under Section 213A of the INA. you will use this form for the affidavit of support. You will need to fill one out (you need to include your W-2's and if you filed taxes, if you did not file taxes you will need to include a letter and say why). Your parent (s) will fill out another one and you will need to include their tax information of what they filed (the more money the better and it depends on how large your household is and dependents etc.). I think of all the forms this is the most tedious one. It is best to get tax transcripts and use W-2's with them if your parents filed jointly. so get the latest tax returns for the last three years or tax transcripts and W-2's. google tax transcript and fill out form and they will send to you very quickly. (No Fee)

G-1145 - E-Notification of Application/Petition Acceptance (PDF, 240 KB) (This is so that you can receive updates online on the USCIS website..makes it easier on you vs. just by mail) (No Fee)

Your going to need:
-Passport size pics of you and him print at-least 6 each
-Copies of marriage certificate and marriage license
-Copies of passport page for him
- Copies of visa page for him
-Copy of valid ID for you
- Copies of birth certificate for you and him
- Copy of valid ID and birth certificate for your parents for the affidavit of support

Do we send all of the supporting documents with the forms; such as photos, receipts, joint bank account information, etc. or do we wait for the interview to bring the things?
Ans: I did not send photos but I did send marriage certificate, joint bank account and lease, telephone bill just in case and just so they would not have a Request for more evidence (RFE) most people I spoke to said I did not need to send those in but like I said I wanted no problems to hinder my application so I sent anyway :-). you will need to send in any immigration documents he has such as I-94, evidence of the P visa etc.

Do we have to send his tax returns in? If so, how do we do that?
ANS: I did not send in any tax returns (I'm the immigrant) so I do not see why he would have to send in any but as you go through the forms you may find that it asks for it. If he is going to be using his income as part of the affidavit of support then you will need his tax info. However my free consult from an immigration lawyer revealed that that is a tedious and complicated process... so if your parents are willing to do affidavit and they meet income requirements then use them. You can have up-to to two forms of support and each must be over the required income. Try and find persons who are not on the borderline of the required income because i have seen during my research online where people said sometimes they requested another sponsor when the original sponsors income was right on the borderline of the required income. You will have to send in tax documents for the affidavit of support to show that you cannot meet requirement.

Here is the USCIS website where forms are located each form comes with an instruction sheet print off each form and instruction sheet and read through it and highlight the sections and documents that are required that apply to you:

https://www.uscis.gov/forms?topic_id=1131&search_q=

You can also request the forms by mail (this is the best option because then you will know that the forms are up to date). You do not want the process to be held up because of out of date forms. So what I did is I downloaded forms online and instructions and highlighted them and pre -filled, then when i was sure everything was correct I entered the final information into the mail requested forms. I would request the maximum of each form that you can request in 1 mailing just in case you make any mistakes.

https://egov.uscis.gov/formsbymail/

Trust this process is not hard and does not need any lawyer with big fees (a lawyer wanted to charge me $4600) ... if he has been here legally it is a simple straight forward process as long as your willing to read and pay attention. Read all the instructions from front to back and highlight the info. I created a check sheet with all the fees and documents and how many of them I needed for each form. I placed each form in a folder and placed the check sheet on the front. and just checked of as I went. I had to do research with large amounts of data so I'm skilled at organizing stuff :-)

You can also find examples of how to fill out each form online... immihelp had some and other did so just google them. For example I looked up how to fill out I-131 when I was filing out my travel document (it has been approved).

Most important- Make sure you sign the documents and make sure you have the correct checks for the fees (the forms will indicate the fees in the instructions) and like I said if you send them in all at once you'll be paying less. Make 2 copies of the entire filled out forms in the order that you will be sending them in including pics, documents, checks etc. put each in a separate binder. Keep one binder for your records and take the other to the interview when it is time. If you use the mail in forms from USCIS make sure you make a back & front copy of the forms (I forgot to do that).

I should have been a lawyer :-)

Goodluck to you and let me know if you need any more info or have any questions

Very useful information!! Thank you so much!

[Monalyza2]

Form G325A is no longer valid

The USCIS no longer takes the form G325A for AOS. You have to submit form I-130A instead for spouse. Make sure you check the websites for the most updates editions and fees.

Good luck!

[Walbrzyszanka21]

The USCIS no longer takes the form G325A for AOS. You have to submit form I-130A instead for spouse. Make sure you check the websites for the most updates editions and fees.

Good luck!

I actually sent both I-130A and G-325. But if the website says it is no longer needed, then I would say just stick to filling out I-130A

[Monalyza2]

I actually sent both I-130A and G-325. But if the website says it is no longer needed, then I would say just stick to filling out I-130A

Here is the link to the page:

https://www.uscis.gov/i-130

Per the website:
Edition
02/27/17. No previous editions accepted. You can find the edition date at the bottom of the page on the Form and Instructions.

Special Instructions
If you are using the 02/27/17 edition of Form I-130 to file for your spouse, you must also submit a Form I-130A, Supplemental Information for Spouse Beneficiary.

If you are using the 12/23/16 edition of Form I-130 to file for your spouse, you must also submit two Form G-325A, Biographic Information: one for you and one for your spouse. Do not submit Form G-325.Please read our Lockbox Filing Tips. (But this edition is not accepted anymore.)

[Walbrzyszanka21]

Here is the link to the page:

https://www.uscis.gov/i-130

Per the website:
Edition
02/27/17. No previous editions accepted. You can find the edition date at the bottom of the page on the Form and Instructions.

Special Instructions
If you are using the 02/27/17 edition of Form I-130 to file for your spouse, you must also submit a Form I-130A, Supplemental Information for Spouse Beneficiary.

If you are using the 12/23/16 edition of Form I-130 to file for your spouse, you must also submit two Form G-325A, Biographic Information: one for you and one for your spouse. Do not submit Form G-325.Please read our Lockbox Filing Tips. (But this edition is not accepted anymore.)

I get that but my case has been received. Fingers crossed they don't reject it because of an extra form.

[newacct]

The USCIS no longer takes the form G325A for AOS. You have to submit form I-130A instead for spouse. Make sure you check the websites for the most updates editions and fees.

Good luck!

I-130 doesn't need G-325As anymore; but I-485 still needs a G-325A from the beneficiary, just as it did before.