BINATIONAL SAME SEX COUPLES !! Show up!

[FulanoDeTal 19]

Sukie,

I would guess that because the I-130 involves immigrant visa, the processing is more "front-loaded" and takes more time. The fiancé visa is a non-immigrant visa and therefore more like a tourist visa, so the processing is more on the back end once the fiancé is in the U.S., gets married, and proceeds to adjustment of status. The bottom line is that if you're an I-130 filer I would expect a longer processing time based on the nature of the visa. And yes, I'm sure there are many cases that would prove me wrong! But be patient and hang in there, remember that even six months ago this was all just a dream.

[Frankie19 1]

My wife and i just received notice that EAD and permission to travel is approved, Card in production and to be mailed out. Exactly 61 days from the time we filed. Excited! Our interview is in two weeks!

Still sobering that if DOMA had not been rescinded, my wife would be returning to Mexico as her year sabbatical would have been up in August. Instead she just received permission to work and we anticipate will receive residency. How amazing!

[R & M 14]

R & M, where did your I-130 start? NBC(MSC)? I see that it's been transferred to a field office. Which one?

I have a stand-alone I-130, and the receipt was from the Overland Park, KS office, where I understand standalone I-130s will be adjudicated. The OP office wasn't supposed to have Section 8 (I-130s) operational until September - and from what I can gather, standalone I-130s beginning in May are probably being processed there. We just don't exactly when Section 8 was supposed to be up and running.

Sukie

The e-mail I received says it was transferred to a local field office. However, from what I read here on Visajourney, it was probably sent to the Nebraska Service Center (NSC). I will only know for sure when I receive the next update. I'm adjusting status in the US, by the way.

[TicoLover 17]

My husband had his biometrics appointment on Wednesday at 10:00am at the West Sacramento Application Support Center (ASC). We left home in Sacramento at 9:10am, drove to West Sacramento, and arrived at the ASC at 9:20am. We scouted out the area where the ASC was located on the south side of the building and then drove around the block to Starbucks and waited there for the appointment. We drove back and went into the ASC 10 minutes early.

When we walked in and my husband handed the security guard, a tall grey haired man that looked about 60, the biometrics letter and his Costa Rican passport. The security guard pointed out that the name on the front page of the passport and the letter did not match, so we pointed out to him that the second page of the passport showed the name change. (My husband changed his name to my last name when we got married and had the Costa Rican consulate in Los Angeles amend his passport with the new name listed on the passport.) He asked who I was and I told him, “I’m his husband.” He asked us if we had the marriage certificate with us and we told him no. He told us to have a seat. A couple of minutes later the ASC manager, a middle aged well-dressed Hispanic lady, called my husband’s name. We walked over to where she was standing and she immediately looked at me and asked me who I was. I responded, "I’m his husband." She looked away and said, “Oh, I see.” She told us to go into the office on the right and have a seat. We sat down on a row of plastic chairs along the wall. She followed us in and sat behind her very large official looking desk. She asked my husband in English where we got married and if he had a marriage certificate with a seal on it. My husband didn’t understand what she was saying because of his limited English and I told her he is Spanish speaking. She asked me if I speak Spanish and I said yes. She gave me a rather surprised and doubtful look I assume because I am very Anglo. She again asked about the marriage certificate, but this time in Spanish. We both said that we left the marriage certificate at home and that we only live 10 minutes away. She said there was no rush, to take our time, and to be back before 3:00pm.

We drove home, picked up the marriage certificate and drove back to the ASC in 25 minutes. This time we handed the passport, the biometrics letter, and the marriage certificate to the guard. He took the documents and gave a clip board with a form on it to my husband and told us to have a seat to fill out the form and then return it to him. My husband filled out the form with my help since the form is in English and he handed back to the guard. The guard gave him a number and told us to have a seat and to wait for the number to be called.

I noticed there were multiple open kiosks that reminded me of the airport check-in kiosks[JR1] . There was a female employee, Caucasian, in her early 40’s at one of the kiosks and she was scanning the finger prints of an applicant ahead of us. Within a couple of minutes the employee called my husband’s number and we walked over to her station. She asked me to take a seat as only the applicant could be in the biometrics area. She smiled and seemed very pleasant. This was the first smile that I saw from any of the employees at this ASC. I took a seat in the chair nearest the kiosk where my husband and the lady scanning his finger prints were standing. I noticed that she scanned his fingers one by one rolling them over the surface of the screen and the machine gave out a nice little beep each time it successfully scanned a finger. That was over in a couple of minutes and she then had my husband take a seat in a chair at the end of the table next to the scanning kiosk and she took a digital picture of him. I noticed she also had him sign electronically on a screen and his signature appeared on the screen much larger than actual size since I could see it clearly from approximately 25 feet away. Soon the whole process was all over and we walked out of the ASC at 10:47am.

We learned from this experience that because of the name change, that even despite the addition of his new name to his passport, my husband will need to carry our marriage certificate when conducting official government business or travelling. I think even once he gets the Green Card he will still need to bring along the marriage certificate.

[Denis81 1]

Hey,

You are not the only ones! :-) We have been living in Germany for about 3 years now. As soon as the decision from the Supreme Court was out we send out our petition to USCIS. The processing time says 5 month for the Calofornia Center. We were surprised, that we have been approved after only 2 month. Next ist the National Visa Center (NVC).

We are in a domestic partnership, since that's the only possible union for us here in Germany. As long as you guys are not MARRIED, you have to file for the K1 Visa. And you are considered as Fiancé. We have been filing I129F for the K1 Visa. Just let us know if you have any questions. We've done it all by ourself. No lawyer or agencies...

Cheers,

Antonio & Denis

We may be a minority but I was wondering if there are any binational same-sex couples on this forum. We all know the hardship we have to go through in order to reunite with our beloved one and have the same rights as hetero couples.

Me and my fiancée have just started filling the petition.

Where are you from?

Since when have you been in relationship?

Which petition are you applying for?

[Davesings 30]

Congratulations Antonio and Denis for getting your I29F approved! We are waiting and hope to be joining your rank soon. Also congrats to Frankie on her wife's EAD and permission to travel!

[jerni 24]

We submitted our paperwork today!

[Blaga-Tina 15]

Hi,

we submitted our I-129F on September 12th and now waiting on NOA1. My beautiful future wife is American and I'm Bulgarian (Blaga). We met in December 2012 and consider ourselves pretty lucky because just when we were at a point where we can't live without one another and want to get married, DOMA was overturned. Now all we need is patience but it's so hard to just wait and let other people decide your destiny.

[onehappycouple 1]

Finally, the status of my i485 has changed from acceptance to testing and interview. Hoping for an interview date in the last week of October.

Submitted on 8/12, last update on 9/18.

[jerni 24]

Finally, the status of my i485 has changed from acceptance to testing and interview. Hoping for an interview date in the last week of October.

Submitted on 8/12, last update on 9/18.

Best of luck for a speedy interview date!

[ivanalex1980 34]

hello Every one

our case number says:

On September 16, 2013, your Alien Registration Number was changed relating to your I129F, PETITION FOR FIANCE(E).

so it means they review our case

[Frannyglass 10]

We sent our application today!

[jerni 24]

We sent our application today!

Good luck Frannyglass! We filed within a couple of days of each other (ours was sent 9/16).

[Blaga-Tina 15]

We got an email with NOA1 yesterday on September 19 So excited! Our case has been routed to California Service Center for processing.

[R & M 14]

Any other same-sex spouses of LPRs here? Is the interview process any different for spouses of US Citizens and spouses of LPRs? I would love to hear the experiences of those same-sex couples who have already been interviewed.