More and more questions (Evidence)

[Pabs 0]

Hi everybody... Sorry again for being such a bother but I'm trying to get all my paperwork ready and there are a lot of things that I'm confused about... Any help will be greatly appreciated... Here are my questions: (FYI: I'm a F1 student applying for AoS thru marriage to a USC)

1. The VJ guide says that in my I-485 package I should include a photocopy of my passport (bio page and entry stamps), a copy of my marriage cert and a copy of my I-94... In the instructions for the I-485 none of these documents are listed. There is mention of the passport page if a visa was obtained in the last year but my visa was obtained a few years ago... Should I send these documents anyway? Will it hurt my application if I send them?

2. A few of the posts in the forums say that students should send a copy of their I-20s... I couldn't find anything about that in the instructions either. Should I send them too?

Thanks and sorry again for being such a pest...

[meijie 9]

Hi everybody... Sorry again for being such a bother but I'm trying to get all my paperwork ready and there are a lot of things that I'm confused about... Any help will be greatly appreciated... Here are my questions: (FYI: I'm a F1 student applying for AoS thru marriage to a USC)

1. The VJ guide says that in my I-485 package I should include a photocopy of my passport (bio page and entry stamps), a copy of my marriage cert and a copy of my I-94... In the instructions for the I-485 none of these documents are listed. There is mention of the passport page if a visa was obtained in the last year but my visa was obtained a few years ago... Should I send these documents anyway? Will it hurt my application if I send them?

2. A few of the posts in the forums say that students should send a copy of their I-20s... I couldn't find anything about that in the instructions either. Should I send them too?

Thanks and sorry again for being such a pest...

I included my visa page, but not I-20. Worked for me - no RFE.

[Pabs 0]

I included my visa page, but not I-20. Worked for me - no RFE.

Thanks for your answer!!

Anyone else has had a similar experience?

Thanks again!!!

[HeatDeath 430]

As I recall, when I was doing my I-485 (from a K-1 visa) I noticed the discrepancies you mentioned between the guides and the I-485 instructions. So I sat down and made two lists: the evidence required per the guides, and the evidence required per the I-485 instructions, and crossed off everything they had in common, to try to reconcile them.

The VJ guides include everything you need but they shift some things around from form to form. For example, the I-485 does not need the photocopy of your passport, but the I-131 does use most of that under the headings "Photo Identity Document" [which can be satisfied with a copy of the biographical info page from your foreign passport] and "Documents issued by USCIS showing current status in the US" [which is satisfied by, in addition to your I-94 and K-1 visa, the photocopies of the pages of your passport showing previous entries to the US].

The only completely extra thing I made as a result of paying more attention to the VJ guides than the form instructions when doing my photocopying was one extra copy of my K-1 visa, which I included anyways. I included it in the back of the AOS packet anyways and it didn't seem to make any difference. Approved in less than 90 days with no RFE or interview.

Either the I-485 instruction or the form itself (you have to check both, they sneak a couple of "attach this" notes onto the form itself that aren't in the instructions) did specify the marriage license if you are adjusting from a K-1 entrance. I believe the I-94 is listed this way as well.

If you have more than 6 months of out of status time you shouldn't even bother doing an I-131, since it would screw up your life to leave the country, AP document or no. Since the I-131 is what actually needs the passport photocopy, you almost certainly don't need to include it.

The problem with the I-485's instructions is that, as I recall, they don't seem designed to account for the specific possibility of adjusting from a student visa. In your shoes I probably wouldn't bother with the passport photocopy, but I would include the marriage license, as well as the copy of your visa and I-94, as those do seem directly relevant to documenting your current status in the US and your grounds for adjustment, both of which will be relevant to the AOS adjudicator's interests. Including extra documentation will certainly not hurt, in any case.

I have no idea if you should include an I-20 or not, never having done an AOS from a student visa, but if it is germane to your current status in the US and your grounds for adjustment, it should probably be included, and even if it isn't, it almost certainly wont hurt and since others in your situation have gotten good results by including it, I would say go for it.

Edited August 13, 2010 by HeatDeath

[Winonan 3]

I got my GC recently. I was on F1 visa before. You DON'T need to send a copy of your I-20. As for passport pages, if you are sending I-485 with I-130 AND I-785 (maybe? EAD one) then that requires copies of your passport pages which includes the copy of visa (does not matter how old), entry stamps etc.

[Pabs 0]

Thanks for your answers everybody... I'm just going to go ahead and mail my I-20s with the package... If not for a better reason just to support the fact that I've never been out of status...

Thanks again!