Confused and need help please

[S.P.G. 0]

Suggested the I-539 to buy more time if you needed it to file for your LPR card, but sounds like your major problem may be lack of funds or maybe you are just looking for a cheaper way.

If funds is the problem, don't you or your wife have friends or relatives that can help you through this crisis? My future mother-in-law knocked me off my feet when she offered to pay for immigration, wanted a good husband for her daughter and a good dad for her granddaughter, I didn't say that, she did. But said, thank you, but no thank you, knew this was coming and have plenty of funds.

Suppose we could pass the hat around, but with our poor economy at present, just about everyone is doing that. State university tuition doubled, so has energy cost, and property taxes, state claims not getting money from the feds, all going to places like Iraq and Afghanistan. Hey, what about our freedom? We are getting by, but not saving like we could even a few years ago.

Yeah but what i cant find is if i can apply for this while in the states on VWP, and if this isnt processed by the time my VWP ends, can i stay in the states while its being processed

[Boiler 46,102]

Suggested the I-539 to buy more time if you needed it to file for your LPR card

OP entered on the VWP.

[belinda63 3,047]

You have a few choices and it seems lack of funds is pushing you one way and pending birth of the child the other. Soooooooo you need to decide what is more important, being here for the birth of your child and your wife being able to continue working or not forking out a lot of money in a short period of time.

1. You can file for AOS on the VWP (with some risks). You have to do the whole shebang at one time, no piecemeal filing one form, filing another form a month or two later, getting the medical a few months later, it is an all or nothing deal. Technically you could file the I-130 and wait until you get the NOA-1 for the rest but this would put you over your stay time yes?

Trouble with this route, lots of money up front and small chance of denial (I don't really think 50/50 is accurate but I could be wrong).

2. File the I-130 now, go back home and follow the procedure for the CR-1 visa.

Problem is it takes about 8 months to get the visa although you might be able to visit again while the visa is processing.

You cannot extend your stay on the VWP. So might be able to go back home and return but this also involves risks such as being turned back at the POE because you have been spending too much time in the US and of course, if you intend to immigrate, being banned from the US forever.

Tough decisions all the way around. Do you have family or can your wife get a loan to pay for the AOS?

[S.P.G. 0]

You have a few choices and it seems lack of funds is pushing you one way and pending birth of the child the other. Soooooooo you need to decide what is more important, being here for the birth of your child and your wife being able to continue working or not forking out a lot of money in a short period of time.

1. You can file for AOS on the VWP (with some risks). You have to do the whole shebang at one time, no piecemeal filing one form, filing another form a month or two later, getting the medical a few months later, it is an all or nothing deal. Technically you could file the I-130 and wait until you get the NOA-1 for the rest but this would put you over your stay time yes?

Trouble with this route, lots of money up front and small chance of denial (I don't really think 50/50 is accurate but I could be wrong).

2. File the I-130 now, go back home and follow the procedure for the CR-1 visa.

Problem is it takes about 8 months to get the visa although you might be able to visit again while the visa is processing.

You cannot extend your stay on the VWP. So might be able to go back home and return but this also involves risks such as being turned back at the POE because you have been spending too much time in the US and of course, if you intend to immigrate, being banned from the US forever.

Tough decisions all the way around. Do you have family or can your wife get a loan to pay for the AOS?

Trying to get funds from somewhere because me returning is the last option. Will let you guys know how it all goes. Thanks again!

[Bl@ckRoSe 0]

I really hope you can get a $1400 loan for your AOS. I would really love to see a happy ending in your case without you having to seperate from your wife and your newborn. AFTER you have filed the AOS paperwork, you can stay even after your I-94 expires. You just need to file BEFORE it expires. Simple as that!

Edited August 13, 2010 by Bl@ckRoSe

[NickD 203]

If they process your AOS, adjustment of status as quick as they did for us, when they were quite a bit slower, you should get your NOA in two weeks.

That would be two weeks from tomorrow if you can get all of your forms done. Or in the middle of September if you can get it done by the end of this month, then you don't have to be concerned about extending your visa waiver process.

Get started, your newborn needs you just as much as it needs its mom.

[NickD 203]

Can't seem to get on the USCIS form site right now, this is already a bad start. As I stated previously, the I-693 is the most time consuming form that is mentioned under the check list, you have to find a USCIS approved doctor and practically get a near instant appointment. We were applying in June, my local clinic was taking appointments in January, that was out of the question. Besides trying to get a reasonable appointment, was not afraid to ask for a quotation as this is an out of pocket expense. I also downloaded the I-693 fillable form and filled out the top part using Adobe Acrobat. Adobe Reader 9 that you can download for free does have this ability to fill out the forms yourself and saved them on your computer.

The reason why I filled out the top section is I have yet to meet a doctor that can print neatly. Your USCIS doctor does have these forms which is why I gather it is not listed at the top to be downloaded.

Another way I saved a few bucks, was to question whether they would accept certificates from our county health office, they said yes. For any communicable disease, their rates are far cheaper, plus any shots they required. As just one example the doctor wanted 250 bucks to run an HIV test, for my wife and step daughter, thats 500 bucks! We got a certificate from the University of Wisconsin Medical School labs stating both were HIV free for a total of 50 bucks.

Requested that my wife bring her medical records, in particular her shot records. We provided both the Spanish and her interpreted version as evidence of shots they already received. By looking through the I-693, they got the shots they needed with a certificate from our local county health office, at about five bucks each. Found a good doctor, had no problem in accepting all these certificates. Local health office didn't do TB chest X-rays, we had to pay for that, wasn't too bad at 150 bucks each.

If your medical records are in the UK, maybe you can have them e-mailed or faxed to you.

With the rest of the forms, USCIS wants mm/dd/year format, as from my wife's home country, they used the dd.mm.yyyy format, had to be awake doing that. Also a N/A for practically all blanks that don't apply to you. Did a lot of copying and pasting to complete that, basically control "V" on my computer.

Recalling doing the G-325a, needed three of these, one for my wife, step daughter, and me, four identical forms in one fillable. But to my surprise, just filling out the first form using Adobe Professional Acrobat, the other three were filled out automatically. Don't know if Reader 9 does that, but would save some time if it does. If you have questions on how to fill out the forms, granted, some questions redefine the meaning of nebulous, somebody here if not me, can help you.

Yes, you want to double and triple check your forms for accuracy and completion. Is a note that if not, can keep your fees and reject your forms, that is not good.

[amykathleen2005 441]

The original plan was to live in England, but she does have a 4 year old who is autistic and when we talked more recently we decided its best to keep him in his current environment for a few more years at least.

The only problem with this is that we didnt expect costs of over $1400 to file for me to stay here.

Is there any way that i can get an extended stay while we save up to file the I-130 and I-485? As we really really do need me to be able to stay here to take care of the newborn while she goes back to work.

Just from the way you defended yourself it sounded like staying here all along was the plan. You knew the baby was coming and that it would need months of care after it was born when you left England to come stay here on a temporary non immigrant visa (well VWP at least).

[Justine+David 218]

I wouldn't want to put my husband at risk for deportation and misrepresentation...even if the chance is small, I don't feel comfortable putting him at that kind of risk. We even decided that if we had to come back from our honeymoon from Hawaii in the middle to go to our AOS interview, we would do it.

Is there no reason why you can't take the infant daughter back to the UK to take care of her there? As long as you have your wife's permission, you can get a US and UK passport. As an aside--who took care of her other child that's autistic while you were gone? Can't you send her $$ from the UK to put the kid in daycare? Family take care of the baby? Just trying to point out some other options. I'm happy for you if it all works out, but I've seen the USCIS do more stupid things in the past.

We just had a case of a person who entered on a fiance visa with a round-trip ticket bought (due to it being cheaper than a 1-way) and his AOS was denied because USCIS thought he boarded the plane back home. Now they have to spend hundreds of dollars just to re-open their case, even though they didn't do anything wrong.

[S.P.G. 0]

Just from the way you defended yourself it sounded like staying here all along was the plan. You knew the baby was coming and that it would need months of care after it was born when you left England to come stay here on a temporary non immigrant visa (well VWP at least).

Actually the plan was for me to go back to england after the 3 month (i wanted to be here for the birth) and her to follow when they were able, until we realised the situation. Not that i need explain this to a random accusing me of things, but there you go.

[belinda63 3,047]

People are not necessarily accusing you of anything but sometimes they like to point out how the Interviewer might see the situation. You do have to realize that coming here on the VWP knowing your wife was pregnant and due to give birth while you were here and now deciding to remain and apply for a green card might raise some questions in the interviewer's mind as to your original intent.

Some people are very lucky and have easy to please officers who understand life is fluid and things happen that might not be foreseen and some people are not so lucky and have the officer from the deep pits who is looking for any reason to deny benefits.

As I said before it is a tough decision with pros and cons both ways. You need to be aware of the possible consequences and issues before you make a decision and this is sort a sounding board to bring those issues to your attention.