Colombia Club Part IV

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

Hi! I need some feedback. My wife and I are considering what is best in regards to either keeping her maiden name or taking my last name. The social security card is coming in the mail with her maiden name. What do the Colombian ladies generally due here in the states who have come via a K1 or CR1? I know that in Colombia, ladies do not take on the husband's last name. is that a good reason to keep the same here in the US?

My wife did not change her name. At the time of the wedding I could not think of a reason it needed to be done and I had did not want to deal with the potential headaches with paperwork and a name change while going through the I-130 process. She didn't care either way so it was simpler to leave it be. There have been no issues since she has been here.

If you have kids then it is nice to have the same last name but otherwise the only reason to change it is for personal reasons.

Edited February 26, 2013 by OnMyWayID

[Mononoke28 135]

My wife did not change her name. At the time of the wedding I could not think of a reason it needed to be done and I had did not want to deal with the potential headaches with paperwork and a name change while going through the I-130 process. She didn't care either way so it was simpler to leave it be. There have been no issues since she has been here.

If you have kids then it is nice to have the same last name but otherwise the only reason to change it is for personal reasons.

I agree, it's only done for personal reasons and as tradition but as far as changing it because there are some legal advantages... there are none.

Diana

[Rig 0]

Thank you all for your advice. My wife wants to take my last name. Will it be a problem to submit the AOS with my wife using my last name while the social security card is in her maiden name?

[Skyler and Silvia 1]

Do you need your BGT # before creating an account at http://colombia.usvisa-info.com?

[NickD 203]

Wife was born in Bogota, but left as a teenager to Venezuela so she could find a job, and never cared about that drug lord stigma all Colombians are faced with. Her family still lives there, and for years was visiting them with a Venezuelan passport, even with her place of birth in Bogota typed in it. But they sure made an issue out of it when she tried to enter with a US passport, again with her Bogota place of birth printed in it. Would not let her enter until she renewed her Colombian citizenship that had to be done first before applying for a passport.

After about a 45 minute discussion at there POE, they finally admitted her so she could get this done. While her mother had all of her original papers, their agency would not accept that, said we had to find a notary first, the only way we could get a registered copy of that original. That small piece of paper cost us $500.00 USD, and was only the start.

An example compared to the good old USA, my stepdaughter needed a state ID before she could travel our domestic airlines. Took her to our local DMV with the proper papers, five minutes and seven dollars later, she had that card. Wife needed that citizen ID card first. To get that, we had to run all over Bogota to get that. Agencies can't take cash or a check, had to run clear across town to some bank, pay that, and bring back a receipt. She could have received that citizenship ID card almost instantly, if we slipped another $500.00 with fresh US 100 bills under the table. But elected to wait. Took almost a year before that card was sent to her because she refused to pay that extra expedient fee. All in all, that card, even with all the original papers cost us $1,500.00 USD. Talk about a corrupted government!

With that was able to visit the Colombian consulate in Chicago with yet another runaround to get her Colombian passport. Only good for five years, here we go again so she can just visit her family.

I don't even want to get into the expense of getting permission from her biological father living in Colombia at the time, he deserted his then seven year old daughter. But recall it has over $7,000.00, they sure love their Miami based bank accounts.

Really can't say much positive about those that corrupted government in Colombia.

[LGGG 3]

Hi everyone, I'm new here and about to start a cr1 process, just got married a month ago, mY wife is in Colombia and im here in Usa, florida, I got a response from Diana about the paper work, she explained that I have to fill ( which I did during my trip) form G325, for only my wife, not for her sons, she also told me that I have to send separate payments for her and her children, I know I have to fill form 130 for all of them, but I dont know if I have to send all the paperwork in one package or send them separate...please explain that to me since i'll be sending the package next week.

I appreciate anyones advice.

thanks a lot

LGCG

[NickD 203]

I-130 for your wife and each individual child, only had one child, I had to fill out that G-325a and that I-864. Also an I-485 for each person, I-693, G-325a, and did that optional I-765 employment and school authorization, plus all the required evidence and one big fat check. Sent the entire package to the USCIS.

One major problem we had was getting that permission from that really didn't care about his own kid biological parent to bring his daughter her. Tried to blackmail us.

Another costly item was that I-693 for each person, my health insurance wouldn't cover that and can only be done by a USCIS approved doctor. But with the USCIS, the I-693 was fee free.

I think this was it.

[LGGG 3]

I-130 for your wife and each individual child, only had one child, I had to fill out that G-325a and that I-864. Also an I-485 for each person, I-693, G-325a, and did that optional I-765 employment and school authorization, plus all the required evidence and one big fat check. Sent the entire package to the USCIS.

One major problem we had was getting that permission from that really didn't care about his own kid biological parent to bring his daughter her. Tried to blackmail us.

Another costly item was that I-693 for each person, my health insurance wouldn't cover that and can only be done by a USCIS approved doctor. But with the USCIS, the I-693 was fee free.

I think this was it.

thanks for the reply...anymore answer??...i need to be well informed...please...

[Mononoke28 135]

thanks for the reply...anymore answer??...i need to be well informed...please...

I would suggest you follow the guide for on how to file an I-130 and again, file one for each person with its own filing fee, and one G-325A along with whatever evidence you may have. You can send both forms together in one envelope.

While you wait for the approval, I recommend reading the EZGuideSpouse which will show you the steps that follow the approval at the USCIS. You will need to get information about the NVC process, the forms you need to send, the documents you need to get and the fees you have to pay. It's a pretty detailed guide which will help you enormously through the process.

Diana

[NickD 203]

thanks for the reply...anymore answer??...i need to be well informed...please...

I received great help from a Chris Musillo, one of the top immigration attorneys in the US, at the time, just paid him a flat $1,500 for guidance. Emilio Gonzales was put in charge of the newly formed USCIS under Homeland security, a Cuban refugee that helped Bush get elected. Not exactly an English major and you will quickly learn that when you try to make heads or tails out of his forms. Even today, most of those poorly written forms are still used and were never corrected.

This site lists all the forms, essentially after you can bring those people here, you can see its very confusing as to even where to start.

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=db029c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD&vgnextchannel=db029c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD

Each person from Colombia is required to have a Colombian passport even to come here and must have a US visa stapled in their passports even to enter the USA.

http://bogota.usembassy.gov/visas.html

Covers this subject, and may want to try to get a K-1 visa for your wife.

Besides those forms, good idea for your wife to file an I-864A so she also assumes liability for those kids, a marriage can go wrong, you really don't want to be stuck with the full load.

If she was married before, need her previous marriage certificate, divorce papers, birth certificates, health records, permission from the other biological parent, police records showing no crimes were on file, all these have to be translated into English. That was another expensive problem for us as apparently Colombian clerks don't know how to type. We had to pay a notary to get all those documents corrected in their court of laws.

This board has many different sections in how to bring people over year, most are up to date on this subject, but is the first step. I never knew about this board until we ran into deep problems during the removal of condition stages.

Another terrible experience for my wife and stepdaughter was when they first came here to Milwaukee, both were stripped searched for drugs, their luggage was torn and a mess. One hell of a welcome to the USA. I was in a state of panic because I couldn't find them until about two hours later.

[Skyler and Silvia 1]

Does the BGT number change between NVC and the Embassy? I jumped the gun a little and scheduled the interview as soon as the NVC gave me a BGT#. The package is sent down to the Embassy and should arrive in plenty of time, but is the BGT# going to change or is it possible any other snags may occur because of my over-eagerness?

[Mononoke28 135]

Does the BGT number change between NVC and the Embassy? I jumped the gun a little and scheduled the interview as soon as the NVC gave me a BGT#. The package is sent down to the Embassy and should arrive in plenty of time, but is the BGT# going to change or is it possible any other snags may occur because of my over-eagerness?

No, the BGT number stays the same all throughout the process. And since you can get a copy of the Instructions Package from the embassy's web site, there's no need to wait around for them to contact you for anything.

Good luck!

Diana

[Skyler and Silvia 1]

No, the BGT number stays the same all throughout the process. And since you can get a copy of the Instructions Package from the embassy's web site, there's no need to wait around for them to contact you for anything.

Good luck!

Diana

Fantastic, that's what I thought but wanted to confirm! We can just print out a copy of the interview confirmation page for her to take to the interview, yeah?

Thanks for all the information you and others have posted! This process would have been tremendously more difficult and frustrating without it.

[Mononoke28 135]

Fantastic, that's what I thought but wanted to confirm! We can just print out a copy of the interview confirmation page for her to take to the interview, yeah?

Thanks for all the information you and others have posted! This process would have been tremendously more difficult and frustrating without it.

Yes, you can do that. They're not as strict about having the interview letter as they used to.

Diana

[NickD 203]

They seem to be overly concerned with fraud and that can happen with the applicants. Really found that I-751 procedure strange in the sense that is loaded with loopholes for the immigrant to still stay here while coming here under false circumstances. For those victims of fraud, practically zero protection from the USCIS, still liable for that I-864.

One section of this board I avoid is "Effects of Major Family Changes on Immigration Benefits", was certainly warned by friends and family on this issue, but we were both madly in love and stuck it out for two years before tying the knot. Wife did have a tourist visa and I a US passport so we could spend plenty of time together. Have to say that friends we met on that K1 visa where you have 90 days to get married didn't work out very good.

As young kids, we both rushed into a marriage that ended up in misery, came to the conclusion that our marriage IQ's were less than two. Was a bit humiliating to explain our love for each other to young not even dry behind the ears employees of the USCIS. Further complications in our relationship was my wife had a 13 year daughter, while my wife was free to come here, she was not. Only only that, we had to develop a relationship. Shake my head when I read about the spouses coming here and leaving the kids behind. In my own divorce, was one of the very few men that received full custody of my kids, I would have no respect for my wife if she left her one child behind. This meant dealing with both the countries of Venezuela and Colombia to get that permission to bring her over here.

We did become a family having a stepdaughter was new to me, but already raised three. Took a great deal of effort, proud of her now, learned English very well, and was in the high honor roll in both high school and college.

We still have one issue with my wife I do not know how to deal with. She was married in Colombia at 18 and her and her ex moved to Venezuela, they registered her marriage in that country and that is where her divorce occurred. But when we learned she had to renew her citizenship in Colombia, would let her enter without a Colombian passport, we learned that her marriage was never registered by her priest in the state. Absolutely no record of that. We contacted her divorce attorney in Venezuela on this issue only to learn she left that country for Switzerland, and has recollection above filing that divorce in Colombia. We thought that was done. We do have our marriage registered in Venezuela, and I would like to have our marriage registered in Colombia as well. Have wonderful in-laws in that country.

Colombian courts want $3,000.00 to review the Venezuelan divorce, but then was never legally married in Colombia. So when we travel down there as boyfriend and girlfriend.

Could we risk just having our valid US marriage registered in Colombia? Or is it best just to stay quiet on this issue. One notary suggested that my wife get together with her ex and apply for that $150.00 divorce. Wife won't do that, first admitting to bigotry, then her marriage was never registered in the first place.

One minor observation I have made with both judges and notaries in those two countries, all seem to have Miami banks accounts. If I didn't pay those "expedient fees" would take years before our cases were heard.