An Urgent Question Regarding I-130, I-485 and I-94

[mckara 0]

Hello everybody.

I am a naturalized citizen. I am in the process of filling out the I-130 and I-485 forms to apply for a greencard for my wife of two years. She is also in the United States... so I'm not sure if this discussion fits in this topic, but I do not know where else to post it... I really need some help.

My wife is a graduate student here in the US. Her F-1 visa is valid until July 20, 2013, but her I-20 expired on the 20th of this month. We both forgot about renewing her I-20, so now we have to apply for a new I-20. Instead of doing this, I thought we might as well apply for her greencard (we were planning on applying anyway, but we were waiting until we had saved up enough money).

Unfortunately we cannot find her passport.

Neither the I-130, nor the I-485 requires her actual passport, as far as I can tell they only require her I-94 number... but since we cannot find her passport, we do not know her I-94 number.

We do, however, have the photocopy of her previous I-94 (expired). Her current I-94 should still be active, since she went to Turkey on vacation last June.

My questions is this: can I fill out these forms using her old I-94 number? Would our applications get denied? Would we lose the $1,490 associated with both of these forms?

The alternative is to apply for a new Passport through the Turkish consulate (which could take many months). Go back to Turkey, apply for a new visa, a new I-20 and then apply for a greencard. This would mean that she would have to put her graduate studies on hold for a very long time, which would suck since this is her last semester.

I would really appreciate any help that you could provide.

Thank you so much.

[Inky 1,111]

The OP is not applying for a spousal visa, moved from spousal visa forums to adjustment of status from student, work, tourist forums.

[Hypnos 6,578]

You will need proof of legal entry to file for her AoS. For most people this is a copy of their most recent I-94; for people who did not receive an I-94 (VWP travellers) it's usually a copy of CBP's entry stamp on their passport.

Unfortunately you cannot use an old I-94 because it does not prove legal entry this time around. If you submit an AoS application with either an old I-94 or no I-94 at all then you will receive an RFE for it. If you do not reply to the RFE with proof of legal entry then the application will be denied and your wife may be placed in removal proceedings.

Probably the cleanest way to resolve the situation is to apply for a replacement I-94 using an I-102. Once the replacement I-94 was received (it will take several months) you could then submit your wife's AoS using the new I-94 you would receive.

Edited May 26, 2013 by Hypnos

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

I-485 needs passport. It's #3 in "Initial Evidence."

She needs to get a new passport and replace her I-94 with the I-102. She needs the latest one.

[Hypnos 6,578]

That's only if the OP has obtained a visa from a US post within the past year, so depending on when the visa was initially obtained it may or may not be required.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

You need the passport bio page no matter what. Add visa page if obtained in the last year.

The passport will also be required for the interview.

[Hypnos 6,578]

That's not my interpretation. In fact, it makes no mention of the biographical page of the passport at all, only the passport page containing a nonimmigrant visa, if such a visa was obtained within the past year.

It's certainly best practice to have a valid passport, though. For one thing you will need some form of ID to have biometrics taken.

Edited May 26, 2013 by Hypnos

[AnotherLostSoul 167]

I would actually advise your girlfriend to be a bit more responsible and organized and find that freaking passport. It has to be somewhere around, it does not dissipate, or evaporate from the apartment/house she is living in when she was using it last June. So, before you start complicating things of applying for new passport, or new I-94 tell her to spend this nice long weekend and pull every drawer out and dump on the carpet if needed and look for her passport. How she cannot find her passport? Her whole life depends on that! Seriously, it has to be around in the house/apt. so take time and really look through everything. She came back from her home country last June from visiting which means she entered back in the United States. Which means her passport is here. And if you guys found it, then tell her that she needs to be way more organized than that. No offense here, but she'll have ton of paper work to fill out, and keep through this immigration process, so if she loses one that could cost as much as getting deported and maybe even banned. Good luck!

[ddkorestin 10]

a photo ID is needed to enter the interview. i think its better to have all these tins sorted and then apply for i130, i485 etc. as per the i94, u will need a copy of this, a lot of people dont know the importance of this, try and get a new one and in the main time start assembling ur documentation, taking pictures etc best of luck

[grrrrreat 109]

You need the passport bio page no matter what. Add visa page if obtained in the last year.

The passport will also be required for the interview.

This is inaccurate. A passport is not required to file I-485. Passports may be required at the interview to establish identity.