Approved, Living Separately

[BabyBlueSusie 1]

Hello Fellow VJers:

For the future reference of people in similar situations, I wanted to create a post about the situation of my husband and I. We got married in June 2008 and almost immediately afterwards I started a PhD program in the midwest, which caused us to uproot ourselves from NYC. Shortly after arriving we realized that it was going to be very difficult for my husband to find a job in this small city, considering his limited English skills at the time, and, of course, the terrible economy. He was not happy here, since he had no friends, no job, and couldn't even get around because the license test is only given in English here (and of course there is next to no public transport). As much as I wanted to believe that I alone could make his experience here tolerable, that simply was not realistic. To make a long story short, a few months later, shortly after filing AOS, we decided that it would be best for him to go back to NY where he had friends, people who spoke his language, and most importantly, a stable, well paying job. My family is there too, so they also offer him some support. We have been living with this arrangement for the past couple of years. I go to NY during all school breaks and he comes here in the winter when he doesn't have much work. It is not ideal, but we have made it work. I plan on moving back to NY when I finish my PhD program next year.

Anyhow, the reason I am posting is because we applied for ROC, openly stated that we are mostly living separately, and were approved without so much as an interview or RFE. I want our story to give hope to others out there who might be in similar situations. Just keep records of everything and you will be fine. I have included a list of evidences we sent, for any interested parties. I hope this helps! Good luck, and just remember to be thorough and honest with USCIS.

Our evidences: joint bank account information, joint tax transcripts, joint car insurance documents, joint leases from both of our apartments, joint ownership of two cars, police report of a car accident that we got in together, joint credit cards, numerous utility bills in both of our names, LOTS of plane tickets from our travel back and forth to visit one another, copies of my school ID and his student spouse ID showing the same school, some photos of us with family, two affidavits from friends.

Edited October 11, 2011 by BabyBlueSusie

[faloak 2]

Hello Fellow VJers:

For the future reference of people in similar situations, I wanted to create a post about the situation of my husband and I. We got married in June 2008 and almost immediately afterwards I started a PhD program in the midwest, which caused us to uproot ourselves from NYC. Shortly after arriving we realized that it was going to be very difficult for my husband to find a job in this small city, considering his limited English skills at the time, and, of course, the terrible economy. He was not happy here, since he had no friends, no job, and couldn't even get around because the license test is only given in English here (and of course there is next to no public transport). As much as I wanted to believe that I alone could make his experience here tolerable, that simply was not realistic. To make a long story short, a few months later, shortly after filing AOS, we decided that it would be best for him to go back to NY where he had friends, people who spoke his language, and most importantly, a stable, well paying job. My family is there too, so they also offer him some support. We have been living with this arrangement for the past couple of years. I go to NY during all school breaks and he comes here in the winter when he doesn't have much work. It is not ideal, but we have made it work. I plan on moving back to NY when I finish my PhD program next year.

Anyhow, the reason I am posting is because we applied for ROC, openly stated that we are mostly living separately, and were approved without so much as an interview or RFE. I want our story to give hope to others out there who might be in similar situations. Just keep records of everything and you will be fine. I have included a list of evidences we sent, for any interested parties. I hope this helps! Good luck, and just remember to be thorough and honest with USCIS.

Our evidences: joint bank account information, joint tax transcripts, joint car insurance documents, joint leases from both of our apartments, joint ownership of two cars, police report of a car accident that we got in together, joint credit cards, numerous utility bills in both of our names, LOTS of plane tickets from our travel back and forth to visit one another, copies of my school ID and his student spouse ID showing the same school, some photos of us with family, two affidavits from friends.

thanks for sharing your experience!

[~happyndinlove~ 540]

Congratulations!!!

[patient2010 93]

congrats way to go!!!!!

[Barca 10]

congrats and thanks for sharing

[BabyBlueSusie 1]

Thanks everyone! We are glad it's over. Best of luck to everyone.

[mr and mrs 187]

yes, congratulations! a good story to share to remind people that good things happen during this whole process. thanks much.

[RebeccaAndPhil 5]

Thanks so much for sharing - I'm sure it will help a lot of others in a similar situation. And Congrats on the approval as well!