Newbie questions - Getting ready to file - Last min questions

[mikema75]

Hello,

I appreciate everyone's contributions on this forum.

I am a US citizen and my now wife came Sept 2017 on a tourist visa, we found out she was pregnant 2 weeks later. We got married Nov 2017, her tourist visa expired March 2018 so she entered the country legally but officially overstayed her visa now. I'm attempting to get all my paperwork done the last 6 months but frankly was overwhelmed with a new job, new baby, etc and learning about what to do, how to do it, etc. Our son was born in June 2018.

I now have our I-485, I-130, I-130a, I-864 and I-765 filled out and gathering all the support info to show our marriage is bonafide. Special thanks to USCitizenFilingforSpouse for emphasizing submitting ALL the documentation with the application.

I guess the outstanding questions i have is the following.

1. How much of an issue is it that my wife has over stayed her tourist visa? Any gotcha's i should know about? The Nolo Press book said since i'm a US Citizen and we are married it shouldn't be an issue for me to file an adjustment of status for her. But I'm not sure if anything has changed with the trump administration, etc.

2. How important is the Affidavits from friends/family that we have a bonafide marriage? I have pictures, marriage certificates, car title, etc. I mean we have a baby we can bring to the interview to show that our marriage is real. Was wondering if it's necessary to bother friends/family to get a notarized affidavit that our marriage is real? Has anyone been approved without this?

https://www.us-immigration.com/blog/how-to-write-an-affidavit-for-immigration-marriage/

3. There is a USCIS field office in Wichita that doesn't seem very busy. I can get an appointment within a few days at this office online. Is it appropriate to bring all my documents and proof and have them look over it before i send it into USCIS? According to the I-485 instructions for my situation i should be mailing it to the chicago office. When i check the processing time, should i be checking for the chicago office or the wichita office? https://egov.uscis.gov/processing-times/

4. We did the immigration medical exam at the end of March 2018 and i understand it is good for 1 year. Is that assumption correct? Was wondering what our chances are of getting approved by then and not having to get another medical exam. My wife is breastfeeding and we prefer not to have to get a bunch of unnecessary vaccinations if we can help it. (she got all her shots in Malaysia but no longer has the proof of that, she got a pass for most of the shots because she was pregnant during the initial medical exam)

Any other advice or recommendations?

thank you all!

best,
Michael

[kaylip]

Hello,

I appreciate everyone's contributions on this forum.

I am a US citizen and my now wife came Sept 2017 on a tourist visa, we found out she was pregnant 2 weeks later. We got married Nov 2017, her tourist visa expired March 2018 so she entered the country legally but officially overstayed her visa now. I'm attempting to get all my paperwork done the last 6 months but frankly was overwhelmed with a new job, new baby, etc and learning about what to do, how to do it, etc. Our son was born in June 2018.

I now have our I-485, I-130, I-130a, I-864 and I-765 filled out and gathering all the support info to show our marriage is bonafide. Special thanks to USCitizenFilingforSpouse for emphasizing submitting ALL the documentation with the application.

I guess the outstanding questions i have is the following.

1. How much of an issue is it that my wife has over stayed her tourist visa? Any gotcha's i should know about? The Nolo Press book said since i'm a US Citizen and we are married it shouldn't be an issue for me to file an adjustment of status for her. But I'm not sure if anything has changed with the trump administration, etc.

2. How important is the Affidavits from friends/family that we have a bonafide marriage? I have pictures, marriage certificates, car title, etc. I mean we have a baby we can bring to the interview to show that our marriage is real. Was wondering if it's necessary to bother friends/family to get a notarized affidavit that our marriage is real? Has anyone been approved without this?

https://www.us-immigration.com/blog/how-to-write-an-affidavit-for-immigration-marriage/

3. There is a USCIS field office in Wichita that doesn't seem very busy. I can get an appointment within a few days at this office online. Is it appropriate to bring all my documents and proof and have them look over it before i send it into USCIS? According to the I-485 instructions for my situation i should be mailing it to the chicago office. When i check the processing time, should i be checking for the chicago office or the wichita office? https://egov.uscis.gov/processing-times/

4. We did the immigration medical exam at the end of March 2018 and i understand it is good for 1 year. Is that assumption correct? Was wondering what our chances are of getting approved by then and not having to get another medical exam. My wife is breastfeeding and we prefer not to have to get a bunch of unnecessary vaccinations if we can help it. (she got all her shots in Malaysia but no longer has the proof of that, she got a pass for most of the shots because she was pregnant during the initial medical exam)

Any other advice or recommendations?

thank you all!

best,
Michael

1. If you read the laws listed on the USCIS website you will see that your wife is waived from penalization for overstay. This applies only to spouses of US citizens. I overstayed mine 8 months when I filed and the officer never asked any questions about it.

2. Affidavits are secondary proofs but they help if you don't have sufficient evidences. I got 2 from my side and 2 from my spouse's side when I filed the applications. U can still be approved without that once you have sufficient evidences.

3. It's not appropriate to take your file to a USCIS office to have them check your documents. That's not their job, it's not what they do. Lawyers and paralegals do this for a fee. There are also some non profit organizations that do it for intending immigrants. When checking processing times you have to check your field office, this is the office you will likely be interviewed at.

4. It's always a good idea to wait until your case is ready for an interview since that's the final step towards the green card. This is so because some field offices would have delays and take longer, resulting in expired medical forms. The instructions on the website aslo advised applicants to not submit it initially and to wait. I can't say if you will have to redo one.

Best of luck to you and your family. Congrats on the baby!

[UScitizenFilingforspouse]

Hello,

I appreciate everyone's contributions on this forum.

I am a US citizen and my now wife came Sept 2017 on a tourist visa, we found out she was pregnant 2 weeks later. We got married Nov 2017, her tourist visa expired March 2018 so she entered the country legally but officially overstayed her visa now. I'm attempting to get all my paperwork done the last 6 months but frankly was overwhelmed with a new job, new baby, etc and learning about what to do, how to do it, etc. Our son was born in June 2018.

I now have our I-485, I-130, I-130a, I-864 and I-765 filled out and gathering all the support info to show our marriage is bonafide. Special thanks to USCitizenFilingforSpouse for emphasizing submitting ALL the documentation with the application.

I guess the outstanding questions i have is the following.

1. How much of an issue is it that my wife has over stayed her tourist visa? Any gotcha's i should know about? The Nolo Press book said since i'm a US Citizen and we are married it shouldn't be an issue for me to file an adjustment of status for her. But I'm not sure if anything has changed with the trump administration, etc.

2. How important is the Affidavits from friends/family that we have a bonafide marriage? I have pictures, marriage certificates, car title, etc. I mean we have a baby we can bring to the interview to show that our marriage is real. Was wondering if it's necessary to bother friends/family to get a notarized affidavit that our marriage is real? Has anyone been approved without this?

https://www.us-immigration.com/blog/how-to-write-an-affidavit-for-immigration-marriage/

3. There is a USCIS field office in Wichita that doesn't seem very busy. I can get an appointment within a few days at this office online. Is it appropriate to bring all my documents and proof and have them look over it before i send it into USCIS? According to the I-485 instructions for my situation i should be mailing it to the chicago office. When i check the processing time, should i be checking for the chicago office or the wichita office? https://egov.uscis.gov/processing-times/

4. We did the immigration medical exam at the end of March 2018 and i understand it is good for 1 year. Is that assumption correct? Was wondering what our chances are of getting approved by then and not having to get another medical exam. My wife is breastfeeding and we prefer not to have to get a bunch of unnecessary vaccinations if we can help it. (she got all her shots in Malaysia but no longer has the proof of that, she got a pass for most of the shots because she was pregnant during the initial medical exam)

Any other advice or recommendations?

thank you all!

best,
Michael

Thanks for the holler. I am glad that the "all evidence is required at the time of filing" bread crumbs, I've tried to leave everywhere, are reaching folks before they send their AOS package without any evidence of bona fide marriage.

Here is a link you might find useful. https://www.immihelp.com/forum/showt...interview-tips

I am with Kaylip 100%. Affidavits of support really aren't weighed that heavily. If you want to present a strong piece of evidence, then I would get an advance health care directive. It's a morbid conversation to have with your spouse, but it's very responsible to do so. I would also make sure you have a will. You have a baby now. Congrats, by the way! It would be wise for you to designate a caregiver in the event that you and your spouse aren't physically able to - due to death. Do you want your child to go into the foster care system? I doubt that. So put on your thinking cap and get those documents that not only serve as evidence but ensure that your loved ones are taken care of in the event of your death.

Please do not dangle a baby at Immigration Services Officers. They're well aware that people will do anything for a green card - even adding a perfect stranger's name to a birth certificate. Instead, focus on presenting the paper trail. USCIS wants the paper trail. You should be listed on all your baby's medical records. Use the picture + receipt + text message method. Spend time going through the thread I just shared with you. I can tell you that yes, there are ISO who will be swayed by baby-dangling. I've seen it work. Do they know at the end of the day that the baby is yours and that you are raising it as your own? Only a paper trail can show that. I've seen couples who have been married for 4+ years show up to the interview basically empty handed. "Oh we moved to the US 6 or 7 months ago and the interview was scheduled so fast that we do not have evidence of commingling. BUT here is our baby". So let me get this straight. You lived abroad for 4 years WHILE married and have NO EVIDENCE of that? LOL, OK. They were approved on the spot. And you know, God bless them. As I have said in the past, WHATEVER you're doing... execute it to perfection. That's all I have on that topic.

There is no sense in rushing to put together your package. It took us a good 3 months to gather everything. For starters my passport had just expired. So we had to start from scratch. Then, understanding all the lingo takes a while. Focus on sending an error free package that is not missing any INITIAL evidence which of course, establishes your wife's eligibility for the benefit you are seeking.

Put together a Table of Contents that lists ALL your evidence of bona fide marriage AND state in a sentence or two what each piece of evidence is proof of. You have to tell USCIS what the evidence is. Do not expect them to go through your bank statements and look for evidence of commingling. It's not their job.

I would focus on showing a continuum. Show evidence from the time you met. Evidence of bona fide marriage refers to your intention. That starts when you decided to date or when you met. It does not meant that you should only include evidence since the date you got married.

I-693 - You have one year to submit the medical from the date that it is completed. Then, it remains valid for ONE MORE YEAR from the date that USCIS receives it. To be clear, if you send it right away, then you are using up that initial one year window. It sounds like you might be in a fast jurisdiction. Since you already had it done, well, send it. I just wanted to leave more bread crumbs and clarify that if you time the logistics of the
I-693 astutely, the I-693 may be valid for up to 2 years.

By the way, your zip code determines your field office. That may or may not be the closest field office for some folks. Here is the link https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-.../field-offices

All the best,

USCFFS