Newlywed and Entering the Frightening world of bureaucracy...

[Techbrarian 0]

No, no, no, you don't need a copy of his birth certificate nor a copy of his police report to send along with the I-130. You will need them once your petition has been approved and sent to the NVC though, but not now.

Since he has to send you his signed G-325As, it would be a good idea for him to send you a couple of his affidavits. Make sure they're translated, they don't have to be certified nor apostilled.

This is all you need for a CR1 visa;

I-130

G-325A (4 pages each, signed)

Copy of your passport or birth certificate or Naturalization Certificate

2 passport style photos each

Copy of marriage certificate

Affidavits with translations if you have them

That's all.

Diana

Well it says on the I-130 instructions that the affidavits should be sworn to or affirmed by a third party so I was assuming it would be best to do that at the Bulgarian Ministry and Metodi and I already know they are fond of making us buy lots of expensive stamps and taking a day to three to process and apostillate or whatever they do to the forms. What other kind of third party would be acceptable? The translator? He could translate them himself but I think the US would probably want someone certified to do so. Could the City Officials in his town be the third party? Bleh.

Metodi just filled out his G325a btw while complaining over Skype about inadequate space for Bulgarian Addresses and trying to remember his residence for the last 5 years since he was in college. All the while telling me to keep my head up and not to cry and that it would all be okay, that he would be with me eventually, what a guy...

Speaking of G325a space problems: I've been in college and my last 5 years of jobs don't fit in those 5 spaces (meaning a job or more every semester and sometimes an internship in summer), should I add a page (4 copies) of handwritten continuations of that section?

Thanks again,

Sam and Metodi

[Leah132 0]

I don't have any advice for you since I haven't actually started the process yet, but I definitely feel what you're going through because I wish I had known earlier that the process was this long and caused a separation. I have a question though- is it possible for me to file the I-130 and everything else from here in Chile? I'm able to wait it out here with my fiancee, but we wouldn't be able to go back together until he got the visa. I'm not sure if it's required that I be in the U.S. when I file the papers.

[Techbrarian 0]

I don't have any advice for you since I haven't actually started the process yet, but I definitely feel what you're going through because I wish I had known earlier that the process was this long and caused a separation. I have a question though- is it possible for me to file the I-130 and everything else from here in Chile? I'm able to wait it out here with my fiancee, but we wouldn't be able to go back together until he got the visa. I'm not sure if it's required that I be in the U.S. when I file the papers.

I'm not sure, you could check at the US Embassy in Chile. I know that you cannot file them from the Embassy in Sofia or I would have started it there while I was in Bulgaria. I'm sure you can submit them at some Embassies. Good Luck and I wish you the best.

Sam and Metodi

Edited January 10, 2008 by Sam and Metodi

[Leah132 0]

I don't have any advice for you since I haven't actually started the process yet, but I definitely feel what you're going through because I wish I had known earlier that the process was this long and caused a separation. I have a question though- is it possible for me to file the I-130 and everything else from here in Chile? I'm able to wait it out here with my fiancee, but we wouldn't be able to go back together until he got the visa. I'm not sure if it's required that I be in the U.S. when I file the papers.

I'm not sure, you could check at the US Embassy in Chile. I know that you cannot file them from the Embassy in Sofia or I would have started it there while I was in Bulgaria. I'm sure you can submit them at some Embassies. Good Luck and I wish you the best.

Sam and Metodi

Oh right, I know you can do it through the embassy here, but it's not possible for me because I haven't been a resident here for 6 months. I was actually wondering if you can send all the papers to a parent for example, and they send them on to the service center. I'd like to stay here as long as possible, but I'm not sure if they'd accept the papers when they find out I'm still here. It seems like a silly rule to have, but then again they have about a thousand silly rules.

[MargotDarko 0]

Oh right, I know you can do it through the embassy here, but it's not possible for me because I haven't been a resident here for 6 months. I was actually wondering if you can send all the papers to a parent for example, and they send them on to the service center. I'd like to stay here as long as possible, but I'm not sure if they'd accept the papers when they find out I'm still here. It seems like a silly rule to have, but then again they have about a thousand silly rules.

It would be fine for your parents to send everything on to USCIS for you in the US. Just be sure to use their address as your address on the forms. It's fine for you to be staying temporarily in another country as long as you maintain US domicile - having a US address, bank accounts, driver's license, etc. would all show that you had US domicile.

[Leah132 0]

Thanks a lot Margot

[SerenityNOW 11]

Hi! I am in a very similar situation as you are - I just married a Bulgarian in Chepelare at the end of November. I filed my I-130 package last week.

I was pretty bummed out when I found out the waiting times, too. My friends who were married in Bulgaria did direct consular filing and came home together! Imagine that. They just changed that rule in Bulgaria a year ago.

Here is what I learned that is specific to your case:

First, save your $100+ on applying for a tourist visa for your husband. We tried this before we were married in an attempt to have a semi-normal courtship period. One lawyer familiar with the Sofia embassy laughed when she heard that. Apparently there is approximately a 0 percent chance of them approving it, no matter what you swear to - we had a mountain of documentation attesting to the fact that he absolutely had to be back in Bulgaria for the summer, but they wouldn't even look at it. They basically call you liars and assume you are bringing him here to change status while he remains in the U.S.

I was told by another lawyer that the passport stamp is something the immigration folks like to see, even more than your boarding pass. So photocopy the Sofia entry and exit stamps from your passport and include that with your package.

Other than the passport stamps, I included Sykpe calls, boarding passes from our trip to Hawaii together (I met him when he was here on a tourist visa so we traveled a bit), photos of us in front of landmarks in Bulgaria and the U.S., a few representative wedding photos - with as many other people in them as possible...

Two notes about beefing up your "bona fides" supplementary information:

First, my lawyer said that in the eyes of the U.S immigration officials, it is way more important to have *my* family represented than his. They want to know that the American petitioner's family thinks the marriage is for real. Unfortunately, my family all lives 1500 - 3000 miles from me and did not meet my husband while he was here! (hence the attempt to bring him back here for Christmas). And they were unable to come to our wedding with such short notice.

So I did what I could. I included an affidavit from my mother saying she has spoken to him and photos of my family with the wedding cake they bought me in the U.S. I included engagement cards and wedding cards from my grandmother and mother and aunt (friends further along in the immigration process said that the cards from their parents made a big impact in their interview - it can't hurt). And I took a family photo with like 15 family members, with us holding a big sign saying "Merry Christmas, we can't wait to meet you".

The second note: Before we were even married, I added my husband to a credit card. All they ask for is a name, so it is much easier than adding someone to your bank account. This is pretty quick, so if you wanted to do this, it might arrive as you are ready to file. We used it several times when I was in Bulgaria in December so that we would have the receipts. Every bit counts!

OK, this all may not be necessary, but I wasn't willing to take the chance. The lawyers I consulted with all said I should include significant evidence of our real relationship with the I-130 package - even before this was actually required! The requirement for the "bona fides" supplemental information was just added in the last month or so (I'm not sure when, but it was between the time I originally printed the instructions in the fall and the time I was ready to file in December) so I think leaving it out is a glaring omission. Just stick in anything you can think of that strengthens your case.

One last Bulgarian-specific note: Make sure you get your marriage certificate verified at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (I assume you already did that) and translated by a reputable translator. I actually had our translations re-done (we have his divorce document, too) because I saw errors. One big one to look out for is that in the Bulgarian way, your middle name is your father's name, but in America, if your middle name is "Lynn", that is *not* your father's name. That was translated wrong on our first translation. It should say "second name" or "middle name."

And make sure your translator uses the exact terminology from the I-130 instructions. I mean *exact*. Ours didn't do that either, the lawyer said there was a possibility this could cause a problem, so that's another reason we had them re-done.

Oh - also the section on the I-130 requires his name and address to be written in Cyrillic, so copy that carefully.

The two tidbits I picked up from this site, too late for me, are put the photos in a plastic bag so they are less likely to get lost and photocopy the back of your birth certificate, even if there is nothing on it. This site contains very useful information about assembling the package, I only wish I had seen it before I sent mine.

That's all I can think of from my own Bulgarian experience. I wish you (well, both of us) the best of luck in this process!!

/bb

P.S. Join the "January filers" thread once you file!

As I stated in my first post, USCIS and Consulate are not conserned with this for newly weds, they KNOW you will not have any of this. You will provide this much later after you have established a life in the USA when you apply to remove conditions on the Green-Card.

SEE my first post: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...t&p=1474792

You may also want to read the I-751 guide to get an idea what removing conditions is about, it has in the list of evidence the list you posted above.

Again don't worry about this now, worry about it 2-3 years from now after living in the USA with the conditional green-card.

This list has to do with a couple living abroad for more than 2 years as a married couple.

Can visit, but MUST NOT OVERSTAY the allowed visit time.

Okay, so I can just send the I-130, the G325a's, our marriage certificate (copy), a copy of my entire passport, our passport style photos, and some marriage photos? Do you think Metodi should still get a few affidavits from his family saying that they saw the wedding and knew we were living together for a month? He has to mail the G325a anyway and it seems to me that every little bit might help...

Thanks so much for being patient with me. I'm still a mess, all of this paperwork is daunting and confusing. I contacted the Immigration office by phone several times before going to Bulgaria and they were largely unhelpful and sometimes rude. Us not knowing the half of what we were in for is a testament to the operator's and the website's faults. I will tell Metodi tomorrow when we speak again what he should do and pray that DHL is an excellent mail service so I can recieve these documents ASAP and send out my I-130 and supporting info. Until then I will keep checking here in case anyone else has some more words of wisdom. I can thank you guys enough for helping me out. I'm glad this place is here for support.

Sam and Metodi

[Techbrarian 0]

Hi!

Thanks. I mailed out my package yesterday, it arrived and was signed for today so they have it. I included 20 pages of Skype dialog, 20 pages of emails, photocopies of physical letters from him and me, an affidavit from my mom, one from his grandma and his dad, and labelled wedding photos with his entire family in them with us that the wedding official took, I also copied the visa page of my passport like you said (thank you) and my ticket stubs from my trip. I can't give them anything else unless they want blood or something...which I wouldn't doubt... Sigh. I can't afford a lawyer, this is my last semester of grad school and I can BARELY scrape up enough money to visit my husband again in May when I graduate for a month before I start a REAL job as a librarian...hopefully, I'm APPLYING to several that look good. So yeah I'm a knotted ball of so much stress its driving me nuts! I'll send you a message with my skype name if you want to talk though, its nice to have someone else in nearly exacty the same boat as me. Though I wish neither of us was in THIS PARTICULAR boat...no one should have to endure this...

Lots of Love and Good Wishes,

Samantha Hristova