Final few questions before submitting I-130 package

[pushbrk 12,883]

That's the million dollar question I guess. What exactly is reasonable in the eyes of USCIS? There's no set list and one will never know if they're giving the right amount to avoid an RFE or not. And then when they give too much they might get hassled during the interview because of it. It's kind of a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. Then again, what is the definition of overboard? Yet another million dollar question.

There's no single right answer to any of the "How much...?" questions. It's all a judgment call based on the specific circumstances.

[r060106 109]

There's no single right answer to any of the "How much...?" questions. It's all a judgment call based on the specific circumstances.

Yeah, true. Do you think it would be bad not including email examples between my wife and I? I was just thinking of sending 4 or 5 actual emails, along with a bunch of screenshots showing the Yahoo search function that categorizes messages from certain senders by date (from the beginning to the present) of all the emails we've sent each other. But now I'm thinking maybe I won't even need to send the emails. What's your opinion? Just curious.

Thank you very much

[Gosia & Tito 199]

That's the million dollar question I guess. What exactly is reasonable in the eyes of USCIS? There's no set list and one will never know if they're giving the right amount to avoid an RFE or not. And then when they give too much they might get hassled during the interview because of it. It's kind of a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. Then again, what is the definition of overboard? Yet another million dollar question.

I feel your pain, back when we were doing the K-1, we had many questions as well. On the good side, the % of RFEs doesn't seem to be unordinate high, overall at least; while it seems some countries get more than others. GIven that with some frequency there are posts here claiming fraud after marriage, and that at least some of those would be true and not just one side of the story, it is obvious that USCIS makes mistakes. So I have to think they can also make mistakes on the other end, that is, suspect of a true bona fide relationship; and thus while I didn't send them our entire biographic story, I had additional supporting documentation in case they came back with a RFE. Objectivily, I didn't think a RFE was possible. I had some prior experience with immigration on H1-B, labor certifications and citizenship filings, so I had some general idea of what kind of documentation would be better. Of course, as I got inthe K-1, this forum was always a couple of clicks away in case of doubts.

I think your case is within 'normal' parameters and you will be fine. You are checking on some doubts and that shows that you have put some thought into it and are objective enough to question somethings and ask about that in a forum like this (lots of expertise and first hand experience as you can see). And better yet, open to follow advice of people who have been there, done that and have the t-shirt.

Finally, something I heard in Warsaw: The level of immigration fraud is fairly low, at least in part from the fact that a Polish citizen can easily go to another country in the EU or the UK with a lot of less hassle than trying to get to the US and being illegal. Basically not worth it.

Edited August 21, 2013 by Gosia & Tito

[r060106 109]

I feel your pain, back when we were doing the K-1, we had many questions as well. On the good side, the % of RFEs doesn't seem to be unordinate high, overall at least; while it seems some countries get more than others. GIven that with some frequency there are posts here claiming fraud after marriage, and that at least some of those would be true and not just one side of the story, it is obvious that USCIS makes mistakes. So I have to think they can also make mistakes on the other end, that is, suspect of a true bona fide relationship; and thus while I didn't send them our entire biographic story, I had additional supporting documentation in case they came back with a RFE. Objectivily, I didn't think a RFE was possible. I had some prior experience with immigration on H1-B, labor certifications and citizenship filings, so I had some general idea of what kind of documentation would be better. Of course, as I got inthe K-1, this forum was always a couple of clicks away in case of doubts.

I think your case is within 'normal' parameters and you will be fine. You are checking on some doubts and that shows that you have put some thought into it and are objective enough to question somethings and ask about that in a forum like this (lots of expertise and first hand experience as you can see). And better yet, open to follow advice of people who have been there, done that and have the t-shirt.

Finally, something I heard in Warsaw: The level of immigration fraud is fairly low, at least in part from the fact that a Polish citizen can easily go to another country in the EU or the UK with a lot of less hassle than trying to get to the US and being illegal. Basically not worth it.

Yeah, I hear ya. I don't think we'll get an RFE either, but you never can be too careful in my eyes.

That's great news about Warsaw. Was the interview relatively painless? Did they try to trip your wife up? I'm just curious so we know what to be ready for. Would you mind if I sent you a PM?

Thanks again

[Blueberry Pancake 311]

You can also read reviews about the embassy in Warszawa here- > http://www.visajourney.com/reviews/index.php?cnty=Poland&cty=&dfilter=5&topic=IR-1%2FCR-1+Visa

There is also a polish forum your wife can go to .. http://forum.usa.info.pl/forum/173-wiza-typu-cr1-sponsorowanie-rodzinne/

[Gosia & Tito 199]

Yeah, I hear ya. I don't think we'll get an RFE either, but you never can be too careful in my eyes.

That's great news about Warsaw. Was the interview relatively painless? Did they try to trip your wife up? I'm just curious so we know what to be ready for. Would you mind if I sent you a PM?

Thanks again

The interview took about 10 minutes, with 3 simple questions. I was not there but I had talked to the Embassy staff during the process (they seemed super nice BTW). Questions -as I recall, were 'Has she been to the US and where I lived', 'Where do I work' and 'How do we communicate', this last one needs some explanation: I'm originary from South America, with Spanish my mother tongue and I also speak English, French, Portuguese, Italian and Swedish, I more or less can get by in German; while she speaks Polish, Dutch, Russian, Czech, German and at the time an acceptable English; thus, the 'How do we communicate'; we have developed a Polish-English-German-Spanish, mostly English peppered with the other languages. Approved. I didn't feel they were trying to trip her at all, but then again, the number of Polish trying to ilegally immigrate to the US is very low if any at all; thus the Warsaw Embassy is relatively easy (for Polish at least).

PM is ok.

[r060106 109]

The interview took about 10 minutes, with 3 simple questions. I was not there but I had talked to the Embassy staff during the process (they seemed super nice BTW). Questions -as I recall, were 'Has she been to the US and where I lived', 'Where do I work' and 'How do we communicate', this last one needs some explanation: I'm originary from South America, with Spanish my mother tongue and I also speak English, French, Portuguese, Italian and Swedish, I more or less can get by in German; while she speaks Polish, Dutch, Russian, Czech, German and at the time an acceptable English; thus, the 'How do we communicate'; we have developed a Polish-English-German-Spanish, mostly English peppered with the other languages. Approved. I didn't feel they were trying to trip her at all, but then again, the number of Polish trying to ilegally immigrate to the US is very low if any at all; thus the Warsaw Embassy is relatively easy (for Polish at least).

PM is ok.

Oh ok. That's great news about the interview. To be honest, we aren't too worried about the interview stage or the embassy process. Just the process that goes through USCIS. I feel that it's the biggest pain in the rear from what I've read and seen on the forum etc.

Wow, you speak 6 languages? That's really impressive. I struggle trying to speak just my second, which is Polish.

That's a very good sign about Poles not wanting to immigrate and hopefully will help our situation, which it sounds like it did for yours and likely anyone else who has gone through Warsaw.

Cool, I'll send you a PM soon. Thanks again.

[Gosia & Tito 199]

Oh ok. That's great news about the interview. To be honest, we aren't too worried about the interview stage or the embassy process. Just the process that goes through USCIS. I feel that it's the biggest pain in the rear from what I've read and seen on the forum etc.

Wow, you speak 6 languages? That's really impressive. I struggle trying to speak just my second, which is Polish.

That's a very good sign about Poles not wanting to immigrate and hopefully will help our situation, which it sounds like it did for yours and likely anyone else who has gone through Warsaw.

Cool, I'll send you a PM soon. Thanks again.

Yes the USCIS part is the longest; it's become a lot better in the past few months. Late last and earlier this year it was almost stopped to a halt and had everyone here up in arms. Just a matter of months. We had planned on trips on month 3-4 and then on month 6 in case our case took too long. We got ours approved in 5 1/2 months.

I spent the time preparing for her arrival (getting some decent furniture, cleaning house, preparing for the wedding and she was arranging all sort of stuff in Warsaw before her departure.

Polish counts as 5 languages in my book, trying to learn now but sometime is almost no hope...trying to say the dogs have pchły...is just beyond what my mouth/tongue can twist. My languages are all Latin-Romance and similar in grammar and lingustics, except Swedish that is fairly simple

[r060106 109]

Yes the USCIS part is the longest; it's become a lot better in the past few months. Late last and earlier this year it was almost stopped to a halt and had everyone here up in arms. Just a matter of months. We had planned on trips on month 3-4 and then on month 6 in case our case took too long. We got ours approved in 5 1/2 months.

I spent the time preparing for her arrival (getting some decent furniture, cleaning house, preparing for the wedding and she was arranging all sort of stuff in Warsaw before her departure.

Polish counts as 5 languages in my book, trying to learn now but sometime is almost no hope...trying to say the dogs have pchły...is just beyond what my mouth/tongue can twist. My languages are all Latin-Romance and similar in grammar and lingustics, except Swedish that is fairly simple

That's exactly what I thought. It's too bad government red tape has to muck up the process so much. I read somewhere that UK Spousal visas take 3 months to process and that in the EU a spouse can't be denied entry at all because it's the EU citizens right to bring in whoever they want to marry, or something to that effect.

We'll just spend time talking and waiting I guess. I see her over Christmas and New Year's but obviously it's not the same as being together.

Wow, you really think so? Yeah, the tongue twisters can get crazy, but for me the worst part of the language is the switching of all the ending of every single noun and adjective depending on who's saying them and what place they have in a sentence. The cases drive me nuts and make no sense to me at all. Good point, they are all similiar. Maybe I'll take up a romance language to give my brain a break one of these days. lol

[Nadiab 3]

Rysiu227

Did you send your package already??!!

I was reading the whole post and from my point of view, i wont send them any emails, i would put as much pictures as you can, both of you with family and friends and maybe skype logs but emails is kind of weird i think..

And thats all i want to add..

Good luck to you.. And keep us posted..

[Gosia & Tito 199]

That's exactly what I thought. It's too bad government red tape has to muck up the process so much. I read somewhere that UK Spousal visas take 3 months to process and that in the EU a spouse can't be denied entry at all because it's the EU citizens right to bring in whoever they want to marry, or something to that effect.

We'll just spend time talking and waiting I guess. I see her over Christmas and New Year's but obviously it's not the same as being together.

Wow, you really think so? Yeah, the tongue twisters can get crazy, but for me the worst part of the language is the switching of all the ending of every single noun and adjective depending on who's saying them and what place they have in a sentence. The cases drive me nuts and make no sense to me at all. Good point, they are all similiar. Maybe I'll take up a romance language to give my brain a break one of these days. lol

Yes, that stance EU has taken at immigration is much softer, on the other side, some countries make it really hard to become a citizen and that might have an effect at curbing immigration in the fashion that family reunification does in the US. I do know the 3 months in the UK (although later on they added some 'special' rules for Polish people), as we had considered to settle in the UK because I had fairly decent chances of getting a job there. ANd you are right that in other countries spouses of EU citizens had automatic residence, but -and not sure if this is correct; it seemed that while a non-EU spouse was ok for residence, work was another challenge as it was first priority to the citizen of the country, second to a EU citizen and next to non-EU residents.

Spanish has something very similar to the cases and of course it does make sense because I grew up in that language; my difficulty with Polish is the pronunciation, I mean, in a romance language I have vowels to hang to and if you notice romance languages are centered on a succession of consonant-vowel-consonant (or vowel-consonat-vowel) within and across words, to the point that contractions and special rules apply when you get two vowels together. In Polish I have to really focus and concentrate to say something intelligible, and sometimes (upon looking up a word in a dictionary), I don't know how to begin saying it. But I have a lot of progress, at the beginning I could not even 'hear' words, now I do, and recognize a fair amount, I oculd even say some basic phrases. What was a big surprise is how many Latin-origin words there were. I still don't dare to speak (outside of the welcoming words) when there is other Polish people though.

Good luck and patience, it'll happen before you know it....For us it seemed a long wait, in 2 weeks it'll be 2 years since she came.

[r060106 109]

Yes, that stance EU has taken at immigration is much softer, on the other side, some countries make it really hard to become a citizen and that might have an effect at curbing immigration in the fashion that family reunification does in the US. I do know the 3 months in the UK (although later on they added some 'special' rules for Polish people), as we had considered to settle in the UK because I had fairly decent chances of getting a job there. ANd you are right that in other countries spouses of EU citizens had automatic residence, but -and not sure if this is correct; it seemed that while a non-EU spouse was ok for residence, work was another challenge as it was first priority to the citizen of the country, second to a EU citizen and next to non-EU residents.

Spanish has something very similar to the cases and of course it does make sense because I grew up in that language; my difficulty with Polish is the pronunciation, I mean, in a romance language I have vowels to hang to and if you notice romance languages are centered on a succession of consonant-vowel-consonant (or vowel-consonat-vowel) within and across words, to the point that contractions and special rules apply when you get two vowels together. In Polish I have to really focus and concentrate to say something intelligible, and sometimes (upon looking up a word in a dictionary), I don't know how to begin saying it. But I have a lot of progress, at the beginning I could not even 'hear' words, now I do, and recognize a fair amount, I oculd even say some basic phrases. What was a big surprise is how many Latin-origin words there were. I still don't dare to speak (outside of the welcoming words) when there is other Polish people though.

Good luck and patience, it'll happen before you know it....For us it seemed a long wait, in 2 weeks it'll be 2 years since she came.

Yeah, I wish the U.S. government respected its tax paying citizens like the EU respects their's. It's quite pathetic, to be honest. I can see not working. But not even being able to live with your spouse?? What kind of joke is that?? It just upsets me so darn much. In many ways I think America should be more like Europe in that respect.

Yeah, but I don't think Spanish has the cases to the degree Polish does. I mean, 6 endings for each noun/adjective?? Is that really needed? Just boggles my mind sometime how Polish people remember all of that. I was a Japanese major in college and I would take Japanese and its crazy writing system any day over Polish. Hands down. But yes, the pronunciation is crazy and extremely hard at times. Just today I was trying to read a worse that had about ten consonants in it and gave up after the first few because my brain couldn't process them all at once and it just was a train wreck coming out of my mouth. lol

Thanks a lot. I'm a very cynical person and don't trust the process at all, even though unfortunately it's the only way I can be with my wife and we can live our lives. I'm always worried something will go wrong and they'll find some stupid loophole or reason to keep my wife and I apart. It's my worst nightmare actually, especially given that she's pregnant with our first child. Patience is something I have a lot of. It's just trust, positivity and hope that I'm lacking. I hope you're right. Congratulations on the two years.

[r060106 109]

Rysiu227

Did you send your package already??!!

I was reading the whole post and from my point of view, i wont send them any emails, i would put as much pictures as you can, both of you with family and friends and maybe skype logs but emails is kind of weird i think..

And thats all i want to add..

Good luck to you.. And keep us posted..

Unfortuantely, no we haven't sent the package yet. I just got my Life Insurance policy with my wife as my beneficiary and we're still waiting on beneficiary confirmation statements from my work showing that she is the sole beneficiary on my 401K and Pension. In tandem with that, my lawyer is redrafting my will to mention my life insurane policy number with my wife's name so she is the designated beneficiary there as well (in addition to being the receipient of all my other possessions should something happen to me). We're also waiting for the first savings account statement from our bank due at the end of this month. We just opened up a new account, as I quit my old bank because they wouldn't add her to my account. There's there co-mingling of financial assets.

You wouldn't send emails? Can I ask why? Just curious. I'm sending screenshots of skype video calls showing both of our faces on the screen, as well as screenshots of a program called SkypeLogView showing every single skype call we've had between each other, spanning a year and a half. How many pictures do you think we should send? I was thinking between 20 and 40 but feel that that might be overkill. Idk. In addition to the pictures and logs, we're sending the above financial documents as well as ticket stubs and passport stamps for me to go visit her three times, wedding and honeymoon receipts in both of our names, scans of cards people gave us for the wedding, scans of package labels we've sent to each other and receipts of flowers I've sent her. Sound good to you?

Thank you very much! Your input and kind words are much appreciated.

[Nadiab 3]

The only reason i told you i wont send emails is because i dont really feel.comfortable when somebody read my conversations, since we'be been apart.for almost 1 year we talked about a lot of personal things.. Well, they will find everything they want with a touch of a button anyways.. Thats what i think.. I dont really have a lot of experience about this kind of things but i did read a lot.. We sent about 25 pictures with us, family members, friends and from our trips too.. We describe each one of them in the back with datea and address or whos house it was.. About your bank account, i was reading the other day that if you just open a joint account can be a little bit tricky for them or you.. I can see you are really nervous about the whole process.. We were the same way.. So good luck to you!!

[r060106 109]

The only reason i told you i wont send emails is because i dont really feel.comfortable when somebody read my conversations, since we'be been apart.for almost 1 year we talked about a lot of personal things.. Well, they will find everything they want with a touch of a button anyways.. Thats what i think.. I dont really have a lot of experience about this kind of things but i did read a lot.. We sent about 25 pictures with us, family members, friends and from our trips too.. We describe each one of them in the back with datea and address or whos house it was.. About your bank account, i was reading the other day that if you just open a joint account can be a little bit tricky for them or you.. I can see you are really nervous about the whole process.. We were the same way.. So good luck to you!!

What do you mean about opening the bank account? I'm a little confused.

So you guys were approved? What did you all send besides pictures. Thanks.