Sister married US citizen, need a little bit of help

[inolepehc]

great, she should be able to see her cases online soon after biometrics too.

sweetpiano, what do you exactly mean by "see her cases online soon"??

because this is what we did, as soon as she received her NOA's, we went online uscis site and signed up to be able to see her case online, we entered the requested information and since that day she can see listed there her 3 forms, and when you click on any of them, until now it says "on mm/dd/yyyy we received this form bla bla bla". We know that eventually it has to change, but as i said, we were able to see that as soon as she got her NOA's, or you are talking about something else???

besides that, i hope you don't mind me asking (i don't need details tho), but i noticed that they requested more evidence about your case, did you do something wrong maybe? was it to hard to collect the evidence that took almost a month to send it?? sorry for being nosy

[inolepehc]

Affidavit of having personal knowledge of the bona fides of the marital relationship

I just wanted to share the affidavit of having personal knowledge of the bona fides of the marital relationship we made to send with my sister's I-130.

The text contains what I-130 instructions clearly request:

• full name and address of the person making the affidavit
• date and place of birth of the person making the affidavit
• his or her relationship to the petitioner of beneficiary, if any
• complete information and details explaining how the person acquired his or her knowledge of your marriage

I just thought that maybe somebody can find this useful. here it is, names, addresses, dates, places are fictitious (of course):

John Smith being sworn, says:


I make this Affidavit to verify that Marie Doe and Joseph Doe entered into a bona fide marriage.

I presently reside at 123 Main Ave. Anycitiy, Anystate 12345. I was born on December 25th, 1969 in Greatland, Beautystate but moved to Anycity, AnyState over 17 years ago.

Marie and I met about six years ago through my wife Susan White, they've been friends for over 10 years they met in Nicecity, Troublecountry their hometown.

I've known Joseph for about 4 years now. Joseph and my wife Susan work for Acme, Inc. I also have a part time job with this company now.

Marie met Joseph long time ago in one of our nights out with friends from work.

Throughout the time Marie and Joseph have been a couple, they have maintained a genuine relationship and at no time there has been any element of fraud of concept of an “arranged” marriage.

I considered Marie and Joseph great friends and wonderful people, my family and I are honored to know them and we are also happy for their lives now joined together in marriage.

Sincerely,




______________________________

John Smith



Sworn to before me this

___ day of _________, 200_


__________________________________________
NOTARY PUBLIC/COMMISSIONER OF OATHS

[sweetpiano]

sweetpiano, what do you exactly mean by "see her cases online soon"??

you must have told me earlier that your sister was able to see her receipt numbers on the USCIS website as soon as she received them, but I forgot. See, what happens is that some people (like me) cannot see their cases online until after biometrics, and I assumed that was your sister's case too. If she was able to see them earlier, all the better.

besides that, i hope you don't mind me asking (i don't need details tho), but i noticed that they requested more evidence about your case, did you do something wrong maybe? was it to hard to collect the evidence that took almost a month to send it?? sorry for being nosy

No problem at all, I share with people that ask. The RFE was related to the evidence we submitted for the I-864. My husband and I worked abroad last year, and even if we submitted tax returns to the IRS for 2007, it was based on foreign earned income, and naturally we did not have any W-2's. The USCIS did not bother to look closer at our tax return, they automatically RFE'd us for W-2's, which is silly. Anyway we sent them the foreign equivalents of W-2. Hopefully this will be good enough for them.

The other thing they RFE'd was more evidence of my husband's income. Initially we sent an official employment form (not a letter) from his job (which specified income), but it was too complicated for USCIS to decipher, so they asked for an employment letter. Here it was our msitake, we totally forgot that we had an employment letter, but my husband received it by email over 1/2 year ago, it was sitting somewhere in our computer and we totally forgot about it. So we sent them that. Plus they wanted 6 months of paystubs - my husband started this job in February, so initially we only sent 2 paystubs. You can see from my signature that we waited until the end of May to respond to the RFE - this was to accumulate more paystubs, we sent a total of four, the 2 sent initially, plus two more. Hope this is good, otherwise they'll have to keep RFE'ing us for more paystubs.

So in all it was a combination of our mistake (we forgot that we had the employment letter) and their incompetence? lack of willingness? to look closer into the details of our case and realize we don't have any W-2 for foreign income and that we don't have 6 months worth of paystubs, since the job only started in February (which was clearly stated in the G-325A).

If your sister does happen to receive an RFE (hope not), it's important to read between the lines to understand what they want, because sometimes their RFE letters can be contradictory. Here's an example from mine:

"The sponsor's income on the tax return does not meet or exceed 125% of the poverty guideline. The sponsor lists their current income on Form I-865 as an amount to be considered as sufficient; however no evidence has been submitted as proof of current income."

The two sentences contradict themselves. My husband's income exceeds the poverty guidelines, so we just ignored the first sentence and annswered the request in the second sentence.

One last thing: here's an attachment I have from digging around.

Good luck again and keep us posted.

[inolepehc]

update!!

sweetpiano! my sister received an email where it says they ordered card production (employment authorization) yesterday and expect to receive it in the next 30 days ..... woooohoooooo!

[sweetpiano]

excellent!

Yay, great news for your sister!

As you can see from my signature, a few movements in my case as well. The RFE slowed me down a bit, but I already received the AP in the mail and the EAD card production ordered a few days ago.

Let's hope things progress smoothly in the future!

[inolepehc]

card received

sister got her new EAD card!!

[sweetpiano]

Update

Hey Inolepehc! How are things going with your sister's case?

I already got my greencard, approved at the interview, conditionally however. Oh, well, glad to be done for a while!

[inolepehc]

Hey Inolepehc! How are things going with your sister's case?

I already got my greencard, approved at the interview, conditionally however. Oh, well, glad to be done for a while!

hehe coincidentally i was here yesterday checking out your signature to find out your case status and noticed no changes and i was wondering why hehehe ..... well my sister got her interview yesterday, everything went alright, and they said she should be getting her green card within two weeks.

i would like to thank you for all your valuable help. also thanks to the people of this forum because without it, i wouldn't be able to find someone really helpful like you.

now it's just matter of waiting a few more days so she finally gets her card. i let you know when that happens.

ps: she's so excited, she already found a very good job and is also planning to travel overseas maybe next year with her husband! haha

[inolepehc]

green card received last week. forgot to update.

thank you all, specially you sweet piano.

[dedemaria]

help with g325a

Your case really is helping me with mine. I have aquestion regarding G-325A section about employment history. If I have worked in the past do I write it down or leave it blank? And what is Alien Registration Number? Is it my passport number?. And on I-130 Quest 19 Your relative's address abroad. Do I have to write old address abroad even if I am in the US? My husband is a citizen and filing for me. overstayed also.

[inolepehc]

Your case really is helping me with mine. I have aquestion regarding G-325A section about employment history. If I have worked in the past do I write it down or leave it blank?

go ahead and write it down.

And what is Alien Registration Number? Is it my passport number?

no, it's not your passport number. you will get an alien registration number soon, but in this case you enter "NONE" (w/o quotations)

And on I-130 Quest 19 Your relative's address abroad. Do I have to write old address abroad even if I am in the US?

also, enter NONE, you have overstayed, you live in USA, your old place, in your country, is not home anymore. sad but true.

My husband is a citizen and filing for me. overstayed also.

my answers in blue. good luck, if you have more questions, just ask.

[pixie77]

To inolepehc and sweetpiano...

am about to get married and this section of the forum is very helpful..

question:

do I really but "overstayed at b2"?...is that what you answered inolepehc?

Thank you..

Pixie

[inolepehc]

am about to get married and this section of the forum is very helpful..

question:

do I really but "overstayed at b2"?...is that what you answered inolepehc?

Thank you..

Pixie

your question is kind of confusing but i think you want to know if that's what we answered where it asked about her status, the answer is yes.

let me know if you have more questions.

[pixie77]

Thank you

Hi...

Thanks for the info inolepehc...another question...

I have a daughter who I left in my country she's 7 now...can my soon to be husband petition my daughter as stepdaughter the same time he petitions me? What forms should be filled for her aside from the I-130?

I have read somewhere that, that can be done and he doesn't need to adopt my daughter in order to petition her. I haven't seen my daughter for 3 years and miss her terribly. We both want her to get her as soon as its possible.

All your answers will be greatly appreciated... Thank you

[mcsam]

I am glad to read that you were that helpful to your sister. I am in the similar situation. Overstayed 4 years, married the USC. What did you put for her employment in G-325A? thanks.