Form I-485 Questions

[GlenAndLisa 0]

Part 1:

How do I know if Glen has an A# or I-94#? Where would I find these?

And under the question "Current USCIS Status," do I put "K1 petition approved" and then fill in the expiration date in the next blank?

Part 3:

What is form I-94?? I feel like I should know, but I'm drawing a blank!!

And what do I put for "In what status did you last enter?"

[JoanBill 0]

Part 1:

How do I know if Glen has an A# or I-94#? Where would I find these?

And under the question "Current USCIS Status," do I put "K1 petition approved" and then fill in the expiration date in the next blank?

Part 3:

What is form I-94?? I feel like I should know, but I'm drawing a blank!!

And what do I put for "In what status did you last enter?"

The A# is on the passport/visa (under the annotation), you can also find it on I-94 mine was written on the back as I recall.

We put "K1 Visa Holder" same with 'In what status did you last enter?'

I-94 is a Departure Record. It was given to me on the airplane, signed it & the immigration staff will attach it to your passport.

It will be stamped at the POE by Dept. of Homeland Security & customs & border protection.

We put the same as K1 Visa Holder. Because that's my last status when I entered.

[RaTBoX 1]

Part 1:

How do I know if Glen has an A# or I-94#? Where would I find these?

His A# will be written on the NOA2 for the I-129F and will also be on his K1 visa (the number starting with A). It may also be hand written on the back of his I-94 stub in his passport (see below). The I-94 number is the black bold printed number on the top of the stub in his passport. It has Departure Number written above it.

And under the question "Current USCIS Status," do I put "K1 petition approved" and then fill in the expiration date in the next blank?

His status is K1 Visa Holder, and the expiration date of his status is 90 days from the date of entry using the K1 visa.

Part 3:

What is form I-94?? I feel like I should know, but I'm drawing a blank!!

I-94 is his arrival/departure record. he will have filled a whole form in, but the bottom section of the form will have been stapled into his passport and stamped by the CBP officer.

And what do I put for "In what status did you last enter?"

K1 Visa Holder

[GlenAndLisa 0]

His status is K1 Visa Holder, and the expiration date of his status is 90 days from the date of entry using the K1 visa.

I'm confused! In his passport, it says nothing about it expiring in 90 days. It says the expiration date is 08/11/08, but he arrived on 03/23/08, which is clearly longer than 90 days. Is there another expiration date I need to be looking at? Something that's not in his passport?

And another question... what's a nonimmigrant Visa number? I'm assuming that's referring to his K1 Visa, but is that the super long number on the bottom or what?

Thanks for the help!!

[RaTBoX 1]

I'm confused! In his passport, it says nothing about it expiring in 90 days. It says the expiration date is 08/11/08, but he arrived on 03/23/08, which is clearly longer than 90 days. Is there another expiration date I need to be looking at? Something that's not in his passport?

Every time you enter the United States, to legally be there you need to have some form of status, be it visitor, or a certain visa holder. That status protects you to a degree.

A K1 visa is a one time visa for entry into the United States. The rules of a K1 visa state that you have to get married to the USC who filed the petition for the K1 within 90 days of entry. After this 90 days, you are no longer in the status given to you by having a K1 visa. That 90 day time frame is the length of time your current status of "K1 Visa Holder" lasts for.

What you are getting confused with is the actual expiration date of the visa, when the form is asking for the expiration date of your status. The expiration date is just 6 months after it was issued. If you've not entered the United States wihin the validity period of the K1 visa, you can't use that visa to enter the country and get a valid status. Make sense?

STATUS = why you are there

VISA = how you got there

To easily find your K1 Visa Holder status expiration date, it's the date that will be stamped on your I-94, and on the normal page of a passport (the CPB will have hand written K1 and then a date underneath or on the stamp. This is your expiration date, the date your status as a K1 Visa Holder expires.

Think of this, you could enter the United States using the K1 visa the day before the visa was due to expire. Once you enter the United States, you then have 90 days of status as a K1 Visa Holder, because the visa gives you 90 days to get married. See how the visa expiration date and the status expiration date are not really connected?

And another question... what's a nonimmigrant Visa number? I'm assuming that's referring to his K1 Visa, but is that the super long number on the bottom or what?

Thanks for the help!!

The red number on the bottom right of the visa. The super long number at the bottom is a code made up of the visa number, the passport number, the issuing consolate or embassy, and a few other things. It's machine readable code, nothing you need to ever use manually.

Edited May 1, 2008 by RaTBoX