I-130 questions

[LvivLovers 39]

I'm about to go to Ukraine to marry my fiancee. We had originally planned to use DCF, but since that's been killed, I plan to start the K-3 process as soon as I get home. That said, I have a few questions I'm hoping to get help with:

1) Item C.1. When we get married, we plan to have her take my surname. I'll be returning home before she has a chance to update her internal and international passports, so they'll still have her maiden name. Thus, I'm not sure when filling out the I-130 (and other forms), whether to use my surname (which will now be her correct name), or use her maiden name (which matches her passports until we can get them updated).

2) Item C.7. For other names used, I read that alternate spellings should be listed also. Here's my problem...she had her profile on several dating sites and in translating her name to English, she wasn't sure exactly how to translate it so there are about 4-5 versions of both her first and last name. I don't know if I need to list these names at all since they were just alternate spellings for the translation or if they are only asking for her names in Ukrainian, etc. Her emails to me which I plan to use as evidence of our relationship show her names spelled differently than those in her international passport. Also, I'm not sure if they need every variation of first and last name, just last name, etc. Obviously if she has used 4-5 translations of each name in various combinations this could be a rather large number. Anyone know what is correct for this?

3) Item C.20. This item asks for her name and address in Ukrainian. I had heard that this is used to send her mail when that time comes. She has a post office box where she normally gets her mail sent and this address is different from the place she actually lives (used in Item C.2, C.19, etc.). Is this ok to have a different address for this and is it correct to use her post office box for C.20?

Thanks in advance for any help on these! I know I'm probably over-analyzing the ####### out of these forms, but can you ever really be too safe when dealing with our government? (Just as a side note on this...I ordered 2 copies of my birth certificate from Texas using the expidited option to get them here in 7-10 days. Finally after 3 weeks, I got them in the mail only to find that I have 2 copies of someone else's birth certificate. The cover letter was correct and to me, but the BCs were for some completely random person. I of course emailed the email address listed on the cover letter immediately. About 4 hours later I got a sysadmin email back saying that the email is not a recognized one. So maybe this will help explain a little bit of my "paranoia"...then again I'm probably preaching to the choir here!) BTW, since I can't do DCF, I contemplated getting a lawyer for these and contacted some of the very well-known ones. I can say that after spending a couple weeks here on visajourney.com, when I talked to them on the phone, I felt like I knew just as much as they did (or more). That coupled with the fact that it's nearly impossible to find someone competent anywhere that I can trust to do all this right, I finally decided I'm best off educating myself and doing it myself with the help of all the people here! So thanks again!

[milimelo 4,467]

I'm about to go to Ukraine to marry my fiancee. We had originally planned to use DCF, but since that's been killed, I plan to start the K-3 process as soon as I get home. That said, I have a few questions I'm hoping to get help with:

1) Item C.1. When we get married, we plan to have her take my surname. I'll be returning home before she has a chance to update her internal and international passports, so they'll still have her maiden name. Thus, I'm not sure when filling out the I-130 (and other forms), whether to use my surname (which will now be her correct name), or use her maiden name (which matches her passports until we can get them updated).

2) Item C.7. For other names used, I read that alternate spellings should be listed also. Here's my problem...she had her profile on several dating sites and in translating her name to English, she wasn't sure exactly how to translate it so there are about 4-5 versions of both her first and last name. I don't know if I need to list these names at all since they were just alternate spellings for the translation or if they are only asking for her names in Ukrainian, etc. Her emails to me which I plan to use as evidence of our relationship show her names spelled differently than those in her international passport. Also, I'm not sure if they need every variation of first and last name, just last name, etc. Obviously if she has used 4-5 translations of each name in various combinations this could be a rather large number. Anyone know what is correct for this?

3) Item C.20. This item asks for her name and address in Ukrainian. I had heard that this is used to send her mail when that time comes. She has a post office box where she normally gets her mail sent and this address is different from the place she actually lives (used in Item C.2, C.19, etc.). Is this ok to have a different address for this and is it correct to use her post office box for C.20?

Thanks in advance for any help on these! I know I'm probably over-analyzing the ####### out of these forms, but can you ever really be too safe when dealing with our government? (Just as a side note on this...I ordered 2 copies of my birth certificate from Texas using the expidited option to get them here in 7-10 days. Finally after 3 weeks, I got them in the mail only to find that I have 2 copies of someone else's birth certificate. The cover letter was correct and to me, but the BCs were for some completely random person. I of course emailed the email address listed on the cover letter immediately. About 4 hours later I got a sysadmin email back saying that the email is not a recognized one. So maybe this will help explain a little bit of my "paranoia"...then again I'm probably preaching to the choir here!) BTW, since I can't do DCF, I contemplated getting a lawyer for these and contacted some of the very well-known ones. I can say that after spending a couple weeks here on visajourney.com, when I talked to them on the phone, I felt like I knew just as much as they did (or more). That coupled with the fact that it's nearly impossible to find someone competent anywhere that I can trust to do all this right, I finally decided I'm best off educating myself and doing it myself with the help of all the people here! So thanks again!

Hi there LvivLovers,

since you are getting married in Ukraine, why don't you just apply for CR1 as it gives your wife instant green card and she does not have to do any AOS or wait for her work authorization?

Also, once you are married, you will get the marriage certificate which will show her new last name (our certificate has my maiden name on it too). I do not know how long it takes to get the new international passport in Ukraine but I can tell you that it took me only 2 weeks to change my ID card, passport and driver's license. You/or she might want to inquire what is the processing time to get the new passport there. So for 1) use her new name (your surname)

The only important name is her name in Ukrainian official documents, in my opinion - it should not matter what she called herself on the dating site or in her email address. 2) I believe it only applies if she had changed her name before.

3) I think she can use the P.O box address to receive mail from USCIS. SOmebody please correct me if I am wrong.

Good luck with the wedding and the entire process K3 or CR1 - whichever you decide to choose

[LvivLovers 39]

Thanks for the answers, milimelo! I would prefer to just go the CR-1/IR-1 route, but I heard that the K-3 could potentially be much quicker. So I guess my main goal is just to be reunited with my future wife and I don't mind if I have to do additional paperwork so long as we are together. But you're rightm the CR-1/IR-1 would be best.

[Yodrak 7]

LvivLovers,

1) You should give the name she is going by at the time you file the petition. By what name would you introduce her to someone?

2) Give any spelling variations that will show up on any of the documents that you submit for the petition or visa application. For documents that need to be translated you might want to have all the translations done (or re-done) to match the passport so as to minimize the number of variations.

3) Include both the street address and the PO Box if they are both associated with the same post office. Otherwise, the item specifically asks for the street address.

Yodrak

I'm about to go to Ukraine to marry my fiancee. We had originally planned to use DCF, but since that's been killed, I plan to start the K-3 process as soon as I get home. That said, I have a few questions I'm hoping to get help with:

1) Item C.1. When we get married, we plan to have her take my surname. I'll be returning home before she has a chance to update her internal and international passports, so they'll still have her maiden name. Thus, I'm not sure when filling out the I-130 (and other forms), whether to use my surname (which will now be her correct name), or use her maiden name (which matches her passports until we can get them updated).

2) Item C.7. For other names used, I read that alternate spellings should be listed also. Here's my problem...she had her profile on several dating sites and in translating her name to English, she wasn't sure exactly how to translate it so there are about 4-5 versions of both her first and last name. I don't know if I need to list these names at all since they were just alternate spellings for the translation or if they are only asking for her names in Ukrainian, etc. Her emails to me which I plan to use as evidence of our relationship show her names spelled differently than those in her international passport. Also, I'm not sure if they need every variation of first and last name, just last name, etc. Obviously if she has used 4-5 translations of each name in various combinations this could be a rather large number. Anyone know what is correct for this?

3) Item C.20. This item asks for her name and address in Ukrainian. I had heard that this is used to send her mail when that time comes. She has a post office box where she normally gets her mail sent and this address is different from the place she actually lives (used in Item C.2, C.19, etc.). Is this ok to have a different address for this and is it correct to use her post office box for C.20?

.....

[LvivLovers 39]

LvivLovers,

1) You should give the name she is going by at the time you file the petition. By what name would you introduce her to someone?

2) Give any spelling variations that will show up on any of the documents that you submit for the petition or visa application. For documents that need to be translated you might want to have all the translations done (or re-done) to match the passport so as to minimize the number of variations.

3) Include both the street address and the PO Box if they are both associated with the same post office. Otherwise, the item specifically asks for the street address.

Yodrak

I'm about to go to Ukraine to marry my fiancee. We had originally planned to use DCF, but since that's been killed, I plan to start the K-3 process as soon as I get home. That said, I have a few questions I'm hoping to get help with:

1) Item C.1. When we get married, we plan to have her take my surname. I'll be returning home before she has a chance to update her internal and international passports, so they'll still have her maiden name. Thus, I'm not sure when filling out the I-130 (and other forms), whether to use my surname (which will now be her correct name), or use her maiden name (which matches her passports until we can get them updated).

2) Item C.7. For other names used, I read that alternate spellings should be listed also. Here's my problem...she had her profile on several dating sites and in translating her name to English, she wasn't sure exactly how to translate it so there are about 4-5 versions of both her first and last name. I don't know if I need to list these names at all since they were just alternate spellings for the translation or if they are only asking for her names in Ukrainian, etc. Her emails to me which I plan to use as evidence of our relationship show her names spelled differently than those in her international passport. Also, I'm not sure if they need every variation of first and last name, just last name, etc. Obviously if she has used 4-5 translations of each name in various combinations this could be a rather large number. Anyone know what is correct for this?

3) Item C.20. This item asks for her name and address in Ukrainian. I had heard that this is used to send her mail when that time comes. She has a post office box where she normally gets her mail sent and this address is different from the place she actually lives (used in Item C.2, C.19, etc.). Is this ok to have a different address for this and is it correct to use her post office box for C.20?

.....

Thanks also, Yodrak.

I'll be introducing her by my surname at the time of filing so I guess that answers that.

After looking over things again, I think for the I-130 and I-129F, the only document I need that pertains to her is the marriage certificate. I need my birth certificate but not hers, nor do I need her passports. So we'll get her passports changed by the time anything gets transferred to the US Embassy in Kyiv.

I'm not sure I understood your answer to 3). She has an address where she has lived her whole life and that's what I've put on all the forms. But she also has a separate mailbox of some sort with a completely different address. There is one item on these forms that asks for her name and address if they use non-Roman letters and I had heard that this is the address they use to mail her forms, etc. So I just want to make sure if I put this separate mailbox there that it's not going to cause red flags to go up because the mailbox differs from her normal address used everywhere else. Any ideas?

Thanks again!

[Yodrak 7]

LvivLovers,

I don't know whether what you've heard is correct or not. Nor do I know about "red flags". I do know that the question specifically asks for a street address.

When the approved petition gets to the consulate you can talk to them about where to mail the visa application package.

Yodrak

.....

I'm not sure I understood your answer to 3). She has an address where she has lived her whole life and that's what I've put on all the forms. But she also has a separate mailbox of some sort with a completely different address. There is one item on these forms that asks for her name and address if they use non-Roman letters and I had heard that this is the address they use to mail her forms, etc. So I just want to make sure if I put this separate mailbox there that it's not going to cause red flags to go up because the mailbox differs from her normal address used everywhere else. Any ideas?

Thanks again!