Need advice & probably help. Just got a call and am now worried about my new family.

[dannsca 1]

Hey Hawst saw your posting here, yeah your wife getting picked up its a possibility since she overstayed her visa permit.

Her visa couldve been good for a gazillion years, but once yu get in the country, the IO would tell you how long you can remain in the country, 1 month, 6 months, 5 years,your visa will tell you ylif you have rights for reentry (which i assume her visa did)

I hate to use the term 'illegal', so, she's out of status. She needs to adjust ASAP, i130, 1485 with medical exam, roughly $1800 altogether for her (cash or check no credit cards), as for your step son, it depends on his specific situation.

I take you were in a financial crack due to spending a lot more (i believe 30% or more than your gross income, at least is something like that here in MA).

Try to get back on your feet (financially speaking) ASAP, if you are gonna be doing AOS for your step son even more so since you will have to produce evidence that you will be able to provide for the 2 of them (wife and kid) and that hey would not be a burden for the state/country, since the one pregnant was HER,your wife, and she qualified for emergency medicaid,you could swing it, but try to get into an insurance plan (some will ask for an SSN in order to enroll tho).

Now, as for the $$, for the paperwork, if you can deal with it great, if not, get a small personal loan.

Now, for the paperwork, your wife needs to start collecting that ASAP (vaccination records, birth certificate), in south america its rather easy to get them, you also would need them translated.

Find the tren refering to AOS in the forums, and might be able to give you more insight/help tru the process.

i would advise to get guiadance from lawyer (sometimes the latino coalitions offer free legal aid) but you dont need one to go thru this, USCIS is very specific on the procedures and needed documents to file, just follow it to the T.

Best of luck!

[dannsca 1]

oh, and if possible put abuelita (grandma) on hold for about a year. Once your wife gets her EAD, your finances would improve and you would have a etter chance to help her come visit then.

Edited April 16, 2014 by dannsca

[Kiwinyc 62]

My kids go to a private school here in TX, as long as their fees are paid and evidence of all the required vaccinations supplied the school did not ask for verification of immigration status, only a copy of birth certificates upon enrollment.

In fact they actually started the school year as tourists on VWP because we didn't get our Embassy interview on time and we needed to get them started for the school year last Aug. So we came over and waited here for the interview date and they attended school. When I got the interview date we went back to London to complete the process and reentered as K1/K2's.

I don't know what public schools require as evidence for enrollment but the OP is not using a public resource to educate this child and is trying to sort out his wife and sons immigration status in good faith albeit a bit late. Hopefully not too late.

Edited April 16, 2014 by Kiwinyc

[Darnell 8,479]

i would advise to get guiadance from lawyer

I would not advise this, yet ,

instead asking the OP to read everything in Guide2.

oh, and if possible put abuelita (grandma) on hold for about a year. Once your wife gets her EAD, your finances would improve and you would have a etter chance to help her come visit then.

You are not suggesting the NIV Unit actually looks at 'sponsership' documents during a tourist visa interview, are you ?

[dannsca 1]

Darnell

why wouldnt you suggest getting guidance from a lawyer? Remember i said guidance, not use the services of a lawyer, this means strictly guidance, not havig the lawyer filing and dealing with the process along with you.

As far as the NIV unit, you never know!,even more so, if (as the OP mention) granda is poor (has no assets), there needs to be proof that she wont turn to be a burden for the country for the time she visits and also that there are enough ties to her community (back im Colombia) so that there would be no intentions of staying.

[mirian&john 1]

In the mean while, you will need the third party Affidavit for Bona Fide Marriage (see example here: http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php/Affidavit) to include on your I-130 package, so, ask 2-3 people that know your story with your wife to write letters (preferable notarized). Besides that, include other proves how your relationship came along, such as emails sent to each other, itineraries of trips to each other countries and/or together, joins accounts of any kind, etc, and of course the birth certificate of your son along with your marriage certificate. Anything that show your ties.

Also, go ahead and schedule an appointment for your wife's medical examination (need to be a a Civil Surgeon designated by USCIS - https://egov.uscis.gov/crisgwi/go?action=offices.type&OfficeLocator.office_type=CIV).

As soon you get the NOA1, she will be fine!

Good luck on everything!

[Darnell 8,479]

Darnell

why wouldnt you suggest getting guidance from a lawyer? Remember i said guidance, not use the services of a lawyer, this means strictly guidance, not havig the lawyer filing and dealing with the process along with you.

As far as the NIV unit, you never know!,even more so, if (as the OP mention) granda is poor (has no assets), there needs to be proof that she wont turn to be a burden for the country for the time she visits and also that there are enough ties to her community (back im Colombia) so that there would be no intentions of staying.

Study the URL where you are posting, the site content - the answer should be self-evident.

As to showing income support documents for a beneficiary of a tourist visa - I'll leave that as an exercise to the reader.

In the mean while, you will need the third party Affidavit for Bona Fide Marriage (see example here: http://www.visajourney.com/wiki/index.php/Affidavit) to include on your I-130 package, so, ask 2-3 people that know your story with your wife to write letters (preferable notarized). Besides that, include other proves how your relationship came along, such as emails sent to each other, itineraries of trips to each other countries and/or together, joins accounts of any kind, etc, and of course the birth certifica

That's great advice if the OP is scant on the other 5 types of bonafide marriage evidence.

Here's hoping he has evidence in the first 2 categories in the I-130 instructions, instead, as if'n he has that, these Affadavits are not needed.

[Hawst 0]

My kids go to a private school here in TX, as long as their fees are paid and evidence of all the required vaccinations supplied the school did not ask for verification of immigration status, only a copy of birth certificates upon enrollment.

In fact they actually started the school year as tourists on VWP because we didn't get our Embassy interview on time and we needed to get them started for the school year last Aug. So we came over and waited here for the interview date and they attended school. When I got the interview date we went back to London to complete the process and reentered as K1/K2's.

I don't know what public schools require as evidence for enrollment but the OP is not using a public resource to educate this child and is trying to sort out his wife and sons immigration status in good faith albeit a bit late. Hopefully not too late.

That was our experience as well. They were not concerned with status and went further to imply that it was my legal responsibility to enroll my son - IF - I knew he would be immigrating to the USA. This became my responsibility to do so, in their words. If he was going back, then I wasn't required to enroll him. His vaccinations were mostly up to date due to the visa entry requirements, although, he did need a couple more to enter school.

[Hawst 0]

Quick question for all the others responding to this thread: why does the USCIS allow people to adjust status if they've been here illegally? Wouldn't that be a pretext for not allowing them to adjust status? Doesn't it just encourage people to flaunt the system and do it the easy way all the time? It all seems very wrong when the rest of us who do everything we can to do things the legal and right way in bringing our spouses here have to go through so much heartache and pain during the wait process and paperwork etc. Please note that I don't know much about AOS, given that my wife and I are going through the I-130 process, and obviously won't be having to do that. No offense to the OP or anything. I'm just wondering. Thx

I think you are looking at this the wrong way. I was not bringing a fiance to the USA with the intention to marry. A friend was visiting the USA (and eventually me) which is completely lawful. She did not enter the USA with the sole intention to get married. She sacrificed a lot to marry me as she had a career and TV show back in Colombia that she walked away from. I popped the question to her while she was here visiting on the 2nd trip to visit me and my family as it was her intention to go back. We didn't plan to get married before hand. From what I was told, there are no laws that say you cannot get married while you are here on a tourist visa. Now staying beyond your 6 mo before filing for a change of status, from what I read, is the issue we need to correct.

Edited April 16, 2014 by Hawst

[dannsca 1]

Darnell im well aware of the site, its content, and topic, i dont get why would you seem to discourage somebody to get all the possible help (wheather is here or a pro)to build a case, and discourage to get as much evidence to make a stronger case.

Money its tight sometimes, and i forgot to mention, for the translated documents, if you have a friend that is fluent on both languages and could translate them for you, thats all you need. As for notarizing them, sometimes your bank would do it for free or at lower cost than an actual notary.

As far as the school issue, i did a bit of research, you actually did good by enrolling them in school, even more so to put him in private school, it actually might help your case.

According to the law, education cannot be denied to children based on immigration status (Plyler v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202 (1982))

[christeen 966]

I too subscribe to the belief that NOBODY should be permitted to adjust status from a tourist visa (especially VWP) period. This would eliminate the loophole, and help all those who want to get a tourist visa but are denied because of the fear that they will stay and adjust status. Intent, no intent, doesn't matter then. You can spontaneously get married, nothing stopping them, but then go through normal processing... It would make the system more fair and open up more tourist visas for people (like grandma in this case) to actually have a chance of visiting...

[Hawst 0]

I too subscribe to the belief that NOBODY should be permitted to adjust status from a tourist visa (especially VWP) period. This would eliminate the loophole, and help all those who want to get a tourist visa but are denied because of the fear that they will stay and adjust status. Intent, no intent, doesn't matter then. You can spontaneously get married, nothing stopping them, but then go through normal processing... It would make the system more fair and open up more tourist visas for people (like grandma in this case) to actually have a chance of visiting...

Hey Christeen, I see that you got your citizenship last year. I just wanted to say congratulations to you.

[christeen 966]

Hey Christeen, I see that you got your citizenship last year. I just wanted to say congratulations to you.

Thanks, hubby is pretty happy as it makes all the international travel he does for work much less hassle now! Citizenship was the easiest and quickest step in the whole process!

[r060106 109]

I too subscribe to the belief that NOBODY should be permitted to adjust status from a tourist visa (especially VWP) period. This would eliminate the loophole, and help all those who want to get a tourist visa but are denied because of the fear that they will stay and adjust status. Intent, no intent, doesn't matter then. You can spontaneously get married, nothing stopping them, but then go through normal processing... It would make the system more fair and open up more tourist visas for people (like grandma in this case) to actually have a chance of visiting...

Exactly. So well said. That provision should be completely removed and everyone should have to go through the same process, no ifs ands or buts. It would make everything that much more level for the rest of us.

Edited April 16, 2014 by r060106

[dannsca 1]

ok, so christeen, has completely confused me! So shes part of the Visa Waiver program (Italy)...aka she didnt need a visa! ow can she say especially VWP on a tourist visa? i dont get it!

And im sorry AOS (Adjustment of status) covers a mariad of situations, and has its on set of rules. You still go thru the i130, med exam, biometrics, interview, hearthache and i might add extreme fear! Im sorry im in a same sex marriage, and for a lot of ppl in the same kind of scenario tourist visas, student visa, work visa, expired, overstaying the alloted time, were the only way to go.

Some ppl come with a tourist visa, falls in love, get married and overstayed wihout thinking, some others travel back and forth, and some other pay to marry somebody.

Family and love are not chosen, they chose you