Co-sponsor

[Kez/JWolf 6]

Sounds like your lawyer is looking for more ways to make money.....

I would forget him... fill out the I-485 forms over the weekend and file them along with your approvel notice for your I-130 on monday... you will get your NOA1 within 30 days and be back in status... you should have your EAD withing 90 days and your greencard not long after that or maybe even sooner.....

But if you feel it is better to continue they way you are then good luck coz your are sure going to need it...

Kez

[Singers 0]

Wait. You said you haven't heard from him in several weeks and only now he is sending a letter to London to ask for your paperwork?

Huh?! Did I read something wrong?

[florida_guy07 0]

Thank-you, when I first started the AOS process I didn't have a lawyer. I only hired him recently as my paperwork is in my own country and it is meant to be over here. So I was hoping he could sort things out for me. And yes, I did file the Affidavit of Support. So, if my husband had enough in assets, and I had a job to cover the rest of houshold income, would I be able to give them this information at the interveiw, or should I sort that out before hand?

I think for anyone to give you any useful information, you are going to have to explain your situation including your timeline and what you actually filed. If you have sent an I-864 and not heard anything about it, why is that and *where* is it.

You're asking for information that can't sensibly be applied to your situation.

Event Date

US Entry: 2004-12-06

Marriage : 2005-02-14

AOS Filed: 2005-03-12

I-130 Sent : 2005-03-12

I-130 NOA1 : 2005-08-11

I-130 Approved : 2005-09-16

I-485:10-03-05

I-864:04-24-2006

Case complete:07-13-2006

Interview date (London Embassy) 2006-12-05

Even though I filed here in the US my paperwork got sent to the London Embassy, and I didn't know until they sent me an interveiw date for over there. I came on the VWP with no intentions of marrying, however we got married and applied for Aos. My paperwork including the I-864 is still at the London embassy, and my lawyer is trying to get the paperwork for me. I hired the lawyer when I found out what had happened with my paperwork and had no luck getting it back over here on my own. If you need to know anything else that I have not added here please let me know, and thanks for your reply.

Wow... weird timeline.

So you filed AOS March, 2005 and then you say you filed I-485 in October, 2005 and then Affidavit of Support April, 2006 ? That's very odd... You can't apply for AOS in march and then I-485 in october... because I-485 is part of AOS, along with I-864 and medical. You can send your I-765 later on, but not the I-485.

Where is your lawyer ? What has he suggested you do ? Have you thought about filing it all again and start from zero ? Are you paying this attorney by the hour ? I am not saying that he is pulling a fast one on you, but has he mentioned to you that if you want you can just start from scratch and file everything all over again ? Look, the time it is taking you to recover and bring your paperwork back to the US, you could have your green card...

Why did you file everything separately ?

My lawyer is in Upstate NY. He suggested that I can either re file or, start from where I left off when he receives my paperwork back from the Embassy in London, which he is in the process of doing at the moment. I said I would rather start from where I left off as I would have to pay all the fees over again. I have paid him $1700 for a retainer, he will work on my case for 8 hours.

I didn't have the lawyer at the start of my application, I just hired him recently. I called immigrations here and told them what my situation was, they then sent the paperwork to me, but not all at once. That is why it is filed seperatly, because they sent the paperwork to me that way. From what I understand now though, it should all of come to me as one package? Anyway, thanks for your input.

Dont feel bad for not having an attorney in the beginning or for doing things "wrong" before... you know why ? First, because I dont think most people need an attorney to file for AOS and because I'm sure it is more common than we know of or hear about. I am sure a lot of people send applications everywhere...

The good thing is it can be fixed.

I am intrigued by one of the things you said, you said you didn't want to spend money on the fees again, but yet you hired an attorney for $1,700 just for him to TRY to get your paperwork back. With $1,700, you very well might've been able to pay him to fill out all the forms for you and pay all the fees to the USCIS, plus things would be moving along much faster than they are now.

So you should seriously consider re-applying and starting from ZERO... Call your attorney and check if that's an option at this point and if it is, seriously consider it. Especially now that all USCIS fees are going to be increased within the next couple months... and if you do decide to re-apply, we can tell you what forms you need to file and help you through it, but you have to feel like you will be able to do it, it is not hard but it is time consuming and can be frustrating, but it is all worth it in the end. I feel as though you are fighting a lost battle... you are not even sure if you will be able to get your paperwork back.

Do some research, there are guides in the website that you can read, make yourself familiar with all the terms used NOA, AOS, EAD, USCIS. Read instructions for all the forms you will be using... I-485, I-765, I-864, G325A....

and if you have ANY questions, let us know.

Good luck.

Hi,

I hired the attorney as I thought that would be the best thing to do as I really didn't know what else to do. In my opinion I didn't have a choice at the time, and I'm so frustrated trying to get things sorted out that I would rather have someone else help me, do all the contacting e.tc. I didn't want to hire a lawyer believe me, but I felt like a couldn't work it out on my own. This is such a headache for me trying to sort it all out. Maybe I should have just gotten him to re-apply for me, but from the way he was talking it would have cost a lot more money. He charges $225 an hour. I know it will still be an option, if I were to call him and ask him to re-apply for me. I'm going to call him anyway and find out if he's any further forward as I haven't heard from him in a few weeks. Thanks for your reply it makes me feel a little better that people on VJ are willing to help me. And for free too! Lol

It's ok, like I said, don't feel bad for what you did wrong before, just focusing on getting it right this time.

Talk to your attorney and ask him where your case stands at this point, however, unless you feel absolutely incapable of filling forms up then just let us know and we will help you.... and yes, for free.

You won't have to pay $190.00 for the I-130, but you will have to pay $325.00 (I-485) plus $70 (biometrics), plus $180 for Employment Authorization Document and medical exams...

[florida_guy07 0]

OK, I just spoke to my lawyer on the phone and mentioned to him about starting from scratch and re-applying. He said to save me money on fees again he is going to try and get in touch with the London Embassy. And if I re- apply then I will be at the bottom of the application process again. I said that if we re-applied then I would get my EAD a lot quicker, which I need as soon as possible. He is sending a letter to London, and sending me a copy of the letter, and he is going to call them on monday. He suggested that I wait 30 days to see if it can be resolved the way he is dealing with it now. If nothing is happening in this route then we shall re-apply.

Ok, I am sorry but you paid him $1,700 and he is just NOW sending a letter to London ?

Forget about him.... do NOT give him another penny. He asked you to wait 30 days, wait the 30 days BUT go ahead and start filling out the new forms and get ready to send things out again just in case you don't hear from him in 30 days, you shouln't wait more than 30 days... Be happy that your mistake only costed you a couple thousand dollars... it could've been much worse.

These are the forms you should be looking to fill up and file:

I-485 (Register as a permanent resident)

I-864 (affidavit of support)

I-765 (work permit)

G325A (2 - one for USC and one for immigrant)

You will need new passport photos and doctor examination... go to https://egov.immigration.gov/crisgwi/go?act...office_type=CIV search for a civil surgeon in your area who is registered with the USCIS... call around, the fees change dramatically from doctor to doctor.

And of course, if you have questions, and you will... let us know. Do NOT hesitate to ask us questions... and use the search feature, especially if you have questions about the forms... if you are in doubt, chances are someone else was before and has already asked it here.

GOOD LUCK !

Edited April 13, 2007 by florida_guy07

[PaulineA 1]

OK, I just spoke to my lawyer on the phone and mentioned to him about starting from scratch and re-applying. He said to save me money on fees again he is going to try and get in touch with the London Embassy. And if I re- apply then I will be at the bottom of the application process again. I said that if we re-applied then I would get my EAD a lot quicker, which I need as soon as possible. He is sending a letter to London, and sending me a copy of the letter, and he is going to call them on monday. He suggested that I wait 30 days to see if it can be resolved the way he is dealing with it now. If nothing is happening in this route then we shall re-apply.

Ok, I am sorry but you paid him $1,700 and he is just NOW sending a letter to London ?

Forget about him.... do NOT give him another penny. He asked you to wait 30 days, wait the 30 days BUT go ahead and start filling out the new forms and get ready to send things out again just in case you don't hear from him in 30 days, you shouln't wait more than 30 days... Be happy that your mistake only costed you a couple thousand dollars... it could've been much worse.

These are the forms you should be looking to fill up and file:

I-485 (Register as a permanent resident)

I-864 (affidavit of support)

I-765 (work permit)

G325A (2 - one for USC and one for immigrant)

You will need new passport photos and doctor examination... go to https://egov.immigration.gov/crisgwi/go?act...office_type=CIV search for a civil surgeon in your area who is registered with the USCIS... call around, the fees change dramatically from doctor to doctor.

And of course, if you have questions, and you will... let us know. Do NOT hesitate to ask us questions... and use the search feature, especially if you have questions about the forms... if you are in doubt, chances are someone else was before and has already asked it here.

GOOD LUCK !

Yes, I agree, he probably is trying to delay the process so he can make more money. I found it strange that he hadn't contacted me in a few weeks, but conveniently is starting to do something just when I happen to call him up and inquire about my case. However, I'll do like you have said and get the paperwork ready to send out just in case I need to send them myself. I will be applying on my own, without the lawyer, if he hasn't got anything sorted out in 30 days. I can't afford to wait any longer. Thanks again.

[meauxna 15]

I can't afford to wait any longer.

Pauline, I'm sorry I don't have more to offer you.

I am not a lawyer, I'm just a person who has watched many immigration stories posted online. Something isn't right here, and while you do not have to share everything online (and probably shouldn't) I'm really curious about your priorities here.

If it were me, reading what has been written here over the past two days, and what you've had access to since Feb07 and joining this site and being two years out of status, I would not be waiting another 30 days. I'd be learning about AOS and what to do 24/7. I would be calling Catholic Charities, visiting the USCIS office, calling every immigration lawyer in my town begging for help. I'm afraid my approach isn't palatable to you.

All I can do now is wish you luck & hope to read your happy ending very soon.

[hcj 0]

Event Date

US Entry: 2004-12-06

Marriage : 2005-02-14

AOS Filed: 2005-03-12

I-130 Sent : 2005-03-12

I-130 NOA1 : 2005-08-11

I-130 Approved : 2005-09-16

I-485:10-03-05

I-864:04-24-2006

Case complete:07-13-2006

Interview date (London Embassy) 2006-12-05

Even though I filed here in the US my paperwork got sent to the London Embassy, and I didn't know until they sent me an interveiw date for over there. I came on the VWP with no intentions of marrying, however we got married and applied for Aos. My paperwork including the I-864 is still at the London embassy, and my lawyer is trying to get the paperwork for me. I hired the lawyer when I found out what had happened with my paperwork and had no luck getting it back over here on my own. If you need to know anything else that I have not added here please let me know, and thanks for your reply.

Here is my attempt at understanding your timeline.

March 2005 -- You filed the entire AOS packet (I-130, I-485) with a service center instead of the Chicago lockbox. The service centers can only process I-130. So they took the I-130 and processed it. In the meantime nothing happened with the I-485 (did they send it back to you though? that should have been a red flag, if they did).

Sept 2005 -- Service center approves I-130 and forwards it to the consulate in London as per their normal procedure with I-130s filed with them.

Oct 2005 -- you receive notice that your I-130 has been approved, so you file I-485 (again) here in the US. Where did you send this I-485 to and what happened to it?

April 2006 -- Consulate in London asks for affidavit of support, so you send them I-864. They're still thinking that you're applying for an immigrant visa through them (you cannot "adjust status" or AOS through London, that can only be done through the Chicago lockbox and your local USCIS district office here in the US).

London then gives you an interview date for an immigrant visa -- Dec 2006 -- at which point you realize something has gone wrong. You cannot get this immigrant visa because you have been out of status for so long in the US and now cannot leave the US without incurring a ten-year bar to re-entry.

To summarize:

- what may be salvagable is the approved I-130. For reference, the fee to file a new I-130 is $190.

- I'm really curious as to where you filed the I-485 in Oct 2005, and what happened to it, and if the check was cashed for that. London shouldn't have accepted it, the service centers shouldn't have accepted it, and if you filed it with the Chicago lockbox they wouldn't have known which I-130 to match it up to (since London had your I-130). So what happened to it? Who did you send it to?

- The fact that you sent London an I-864 is of no financial consequence. There's no fee associated with that form.

- Any other fees you paid to London are not recoverable because they would have been for forms for an immigrant visa, which you cannot pursue from the US.

- So as far as I can figure, you are saving a grand total of $190 by trying to recover the approved I-130 from London. It doesn't even save you any time (as far as I know) because you would still have to queue up for the processing of the I-485 in your local district office. If you simply refiled I-130 and I-485 together, you would queue up for the same amount of time and then you'll get an "AOS" interview date here in your local district office and they will decide on both petitions at the time of the interview.

Check which fees you have paid, for which forms. Ask your lawyer which of those fees you would be "saving" if he were to successfully recover your documents from London. Ask him what the time savings is by using the recovered forms vs filing all new ones. Finally ask him what the processing time is for your local district office. Some offices are really fast, like 3-6 months so may not be worthwhile wasting a whole month trying to recover a form that costs $190 extra to re-file.

Finally if your husband owns his home he may use the equity (market value minus amount he still owes on the mortgage) for the affidavit of support. It would be considered an asset, not income, so the assets would need to equal 5x the amount of the income shortfall. Instructions to form I-864 explain it better than me.

[florida_guy07 0]

OK, I just spoke to my lawyer on the phone and mentioned to him about starting from scratch and re-applying. He said to save me money on fees again he is going to try and get in touch with the London Embassy. And if I re- apply then I will be at the bottom of the application process again. I said that if we re-applied then I would get my EAD a lot quicker, which I need as soon as possible. He is sending a letter to London, and sending me a copy of the letter, and he is going to call them on monday. He suggested that I wait 30 days to see if it can be resolved the way he is dealing with it now. If nothing is happening in this route then we shall re-apply.

Ok, I am sorry but you paid him $1,700 and he is just NOW sending a letter to London ?

Forget about him.... do NOT give him another penny. He asked you to wait 30 days, wait the 30 days BUT go ahead and start filling out the new forms and get ready to send things out again just in case you don't hear from him in 30 days, you shouln't wait more than 30 days... Be happy that your mistake only costed you a couple thousand dollars... it could've been much worse.

These are the forms you should be looking to fill up and file:

I-485 (Register as a permanent resident)

I-864 (affidavit of support)

I-765 (work permit)

G325A (2 - one for USC and one for immigrant)

You will need new passport photos and doctor examination... go to https://egov.immigration.gov/crisgwi/go?act...office_type=CIV search for a civil surgeon in your area who is registered with the USCIS... call around, the fees change dramatically from doctor to doctor.

And of course, if you have questions, and you will... let us know. Do NOT hesitate to ask us questions... and use the search feature, especially if you have questions about the forms... if you are in doubt, chances are someone else was before and has already asked it here.

GOOD LUCK !

Yes, I agree, he probably is trying to delay the process so he can make more money. I found it strange that he hadn't contacted me in a few weeks, but conveniently is starting to do something just when I happen to call him up and inquire about my case. However, I'll do like you have said and get the paperwork ready to send out just in case I need to send them myself. I will be applying on my own, without the lawyer, if he hasn't got anything sorted out in 30 days. I can't afford to wait any longer. Thanks again.

It is really your choice to wait or not for the 30 days, you've waited 2 years... and it will take you maybe a couple of weeks to get everything together... maybe you should give your attorney as long as it takes you to fill out all forms and then if by then he still doesn't have an answer for you, tell him to forget it and send everything in yourself.

If you don't remember anything from this thread tomorrow, make sure you remember one thing: CHICAGO !!!

[florida_guy07 0]

Also, you said your husband is disable, you might want to look at this:

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/men...00045f3d6a1RCRD

The link above will take you to the Fee Waiver section of the USCIS' website... I never read through the whole thing, but I know they waive fees to families that cannot afford it, it might no be your case, but you might want to read it and see if you qualify.

Edited April 13, 2007 by florida_guy07

[PaulineA 1]

Event Date

US Entry: 2004-12-06

Marriage : 2005-02-14

AOS Filed: 2005-03-12

I-130 Sent : 2005-03-12

I-130 NOA1 : 2005-08-11

I-130 Approved : 2005-09-16

I-485:10-03-05

I-864:04-24-2006

Case complete:07-13-2006

Interview date (London Embassy) 2006-12-05

Even though I filed here in the US my paperwork got sent to the London Embassy, and I didn't know until they sent me an interveiw date for over there. I came on the VWP with no intentions of marrying, however we got married and applied for Aos. My paperwork including the I-864 is still at the London embassy, and my lawyer is trying to get the paperwork for me. I hired the lawyer when I found out what had happened with my paperwork and had no luck getting it back over here on my own. If you need to know anything else that I have not added here please let me know, and thanks for your reply.

Here is my attempt at understanding your timeline.

March 2005 -- You filed the entire AOS packet (I-130, I-485) with a service center instead of the Chicago lockbox. The service centers can only process I-130. So they took the I-130 and processed it. In the meantime nothing happened with the I-485 (did they send it back to you though? that should have been a red flag, if they did).

Sept 2005 -- Service center approves I-130 and forwards it to the consulate in London as per their normal procedure with I-130s filed with them.

Oct 2005 -- you receive notice that your I-130 has been approved, so you file I-485 (again) here in the US. Where did you send this I-485 to and what happened to it?

April 2006 -- Consulate in London asks for affidavit of support, so you send them I-864. They're still thinking that you're applying for an immigrant visa through them (you cannot "adjust status" or AOS through London, that can only be done through the Chicago lockbox and your local USCIS district office here in the US).

London then gives you an interview date for an immigrant visa -- Dec 2006 -- at which point you realize something has gone wrong. You cannot get this immigrant visa because you have been out of status for so long in the US and now cannot leave the US without incurring a ten-year bar to re-entry.

To summarize:

- what may be salvagable is the approved I-130. For reference, the fee to file a new I-130 is $190.

- I'm really curious as to where you filed the I-485 in Oct 2005, and what happened to it, and if the check was cashed for that. London shouldn't have accepted it, the service centers shouldn't have accepted it, and if you filed it with the Chicago lockbox they wouldn't have known which I-130 to match it up to (since London had your I-130). So what happened to it? Who did you send it to?

- The fact that you sent London an I-864 is of no financial consequence. There's no fee associated with that form.

- Any other fees you paid to London are not recoverable because they would have been for forms for an immigrant visa, which you cannot pursue from the US.

- So as far as I can figure, you are saving a grand total of $190 by trying to recover the approved I-130 from London. It doesn't even save you any time (as far as I know) because you would still have to queue up for the processing of the I-485 in your local district office. If you simply refiled I-130 and I-485 together, you would queue up for the same amount of time and then you'll get an "AOS" interview date here in your local district office and they will decide on both petitions at the time of the interview.

Check which fees you have paid, for which forms. Ask your lawyer which of those fees you would be "saving" if he were to successfully recover your documents from London. Ask him what the time savings is by using the recovered forms vs filing all new ones. Finally ask him what the processing time is for your local district office. Some offices are really fast, like 3-6 months so may not be worthwhile wasting a whole month trying to recover a form that costs $190 extra to re-file.

Finally if your husband owns his home he may use the equity (market value minus amount he still owes on the mortgage) for the affidavit of support. It would be considered an asset, not income, so the assets would need to equal 5x the amount of the income shortfall. Instructions to form I-864 explain it better than me.

I know it's complicated to understand my case. I did not file anything with the London Embassy. I sent my I-130 to VSC, then after that it said to send to U.S Department of State, National Visa Center, 32 Rochester Avenue, Portsmouth, NH, so thats where I sent the rest of my forms. I should have been sending them to the Chicago Lockbox as someone has now told me. The NH visa center were the one's that sent my paperwork to London.

I have never recieved the I-485 back. They did take the payment for it $350(can't remember exact amount) and $70 for biometrics? I didn't get a biometrics appointment though. The I-485 is in London as far as I know. Yes, I got an interview date, but to go to London. I couldn't go because as you said I would not have been allowed back into the US. Plus, my passport has expired, and also I was expecting the interveiw to be in the US, so even if I could have went I wouldn't have, as I'm adjusting status here.

My husband owns the house outright, there is no mortgage. Thanks for the information you provided.

[PaulineA 1]

I can't afford to wait any longer.

Pauline, I'm sorry I don't have more to offer you.

I am not a lawyer, I'm just a person who has watched many immigration stories posted online. Something isn't right here, and while you do not have to share everything online (and probably shouldn't) I'm really curious about your priorities here.

If it were me, reading what has been written here over the past two days, and what you've had access to since Feb07 and joining this site and being two years out of status, I would not be waiting another 30 days. I'd be learning about AOS and what to do 24/7. I would be calling Catholic Charities, visiting the USCIS office, calling every immigration lawyer in my town begging for help. I'm afraid my approach isn't palatable to you.

All I can do now is wish you luck & hope to read your happy ending very soon.

Thanks for your help Meauxna. I appreciate that no one is an expert on here, but I have gotten a lot more information from you, and others on VJ than have from my immigrations lawyer, so I thank-you for that.

[PaulineA 1]

OK, I just spoke to my lawyer on the phone and mentioned to him about starting from scratch and re-applying. He said to save me money on fees again he is going to try and get in touch with the London Embassy. And if I re- apply then I will be at the bottom of the application process again. I said that if we re-applied then I would get my EAD a lot quicker, which I need as soon as possible. He is sending a letter to London, and sending me a copy of the letter, and he is going to call them on monday. He suggested that I wait 30 days to see if it can be resolved the way he is dealing with it now. If nothing is happening in this route then we shall re-apply.

Ok, I am sorry but you paid him $1,700 and he is just NOW sending a letter to London ?

Forget about him.... do NOT give him another penny. He asked you to wait 30 days, wait the 30 days BUT go ahead and start filling out the new forms and get ready to send things out again just in case you don't hear from him in 30 days, you shouln't wait more than 30 days... Be happy that your mistake only costed you a couple thousand dollars... it could've been much worse.

These are the forms you should be looking to fill up and file:

I-485 (Register as a permanent resident)

I-864 (affidavit of support)

I-765 (work permit)

G325A (2 - one for USC and one for immigrant)

You will need new passport photos and doctor examination... go to https://egov.immigration.gov/crisgwi/go?act...office_type=CIV search for a civil surgeon in your area who is registered with the USCIS... call around, the fees change dramatically from doctor to doctor.

And of course, if you have questions, and you will... let us know. Do NOT hesitate to ask us questions... and use the search feature, especially if you have questions about the forms... if you are in doubt, chances are someone else was before and has already asked it here.

GOOD LUCK !

Yes, I agree, he probably is trying to delay the process so he can make more money. I found it strange that he hadn't contacted me in a few weeks, but conveniently is starting to do something just when I happen to call him up and inquire about my case. However, I'll do like you have said and get the paperwork ready to send out just in case I need to send them myself. I will be applying on my own, without the lawyer, if he hasn't got anything sorted out in 30 days. I can't afford to wait any longer. Thanks again.

It is really your choice to wait or not for the 30 days, you've waited 2 years... and it will take you maybe a couple of weeks to get everything together... maybe you should give your attorney as long as it takes you to fill out all forms and then if by then he still doesn't have an answer for you, tell him to forget it and send everything in yourself.

If you don't remember anything from this thread tomorrow, make sure you remember one thing: CHICAGO !!!

Yes I will remember CHICAGO now, lol.

[hcj 0]

I know it's complicated to understand my case. I did not file anything with the London Embassy. I sent my I-130 to VSC, then after that it said to send to U.S Department of State, National Visa Center, 32 Rochester Avenue, Portsmouth, NH, so thats where I sent the rest of my forms. I should have been sending them to the Chicago Lockbox as someone has now told me. The NH visa center were the one's that sent my paperwork to London.

Makes sense up to this point... you filed your initial forms with a service center instead of through the Chicago lockbox, so the chain of events that unfolded after that led you on the NVC/consular path with processing for an immigrant visa done abroad. This all makes sense so far -- I can see where it went wrong.

I have never recieved the I-485 back. They did take the payment for it $350(can't remember exact amount) and $70 for biometrics? I didn't get a biometrics appointment though. The I-485 is in London as far as I know. Yes, I got an interview date, but to go to London. I couldn't go because as you said I would not have been allowed back into the US. Plus, my passport has expired, and also I was expecting the interveiw to be in the US, so even if I could have went I wouldn't have, as I'm adjusting status here.

This is the part I don't get. NVC would never have asked you to fill out form I-485. Normal course of action would have been to send you a packet in preparation for the interview at the consulate... forms OF-169, Of-230, I-864 usually. Are you certain that you filled out and paid for I-485 at this point? I guess it doesn't REALLY matter but I'm attempting to understand which of your forms you might be able to retrieve/re-use/not have to pay a new fee for.

My husband owns the house outright, there is no mortgage. Thanks for the information you provided.

That's good, you may not need a joint sponsor then, and you might not need to add your income either. Depends on how much income your husband has per year and how much the house is worth.

[Yodrak 7]

kitkat1,

There is no sponsorship qualification for EA.

Yodrak

Review the I-864 requirements. If your husband does not earn above the poverty level, you definitely need a sponsor. I'd be very concerned that your lawyer didn't explain this to you - you can't qualify for your work permit or the rest of AOS without meeting the minimum!

[PaulineA 1]

I know it's complicated to understand my case. I did not file anything with the London Embassy. I sent my I-130 to VSC, then after that it said to send to U.S Department of State, National Visa Center, 32 Rochester Avenue, Portsmouth, NH, so thats where I sent the rest of my forms. I should have been sending them to the Chicago Lockbox as someone has now told me. The NH visa center were the one's that sent my paperwork to London.

Makes sense up to this point... you filed your initial forms with a service center instead of through the Chicago lockbox, so the chain of events that unfolded after that led you on the NVC/consular path with processing for an immigrant visa done abroad. This all makes sense so far -- I can see where it went wrong.

I have never recieved the I-485 back. They did take the payment for it $350(can't remember exact amount) and $70 for biometrics? I didn't get a biometrics appointment though. The I-485 is in London as far as I know. Yes, I got an interview date, but to go to London. I couldn't go because as you said I would not have been allowed back into the US. Plus, my passport has expired, and also I was expecting the interveiw to be in the US, so even if I could have went I wouldn't have, as I'm adjusting status here.

This is the part I don't get. NVC would never have asked you to fill out form I-485. Normal course of action would have been to send you a packet in preparation for the interview at the consulate... forms OF-169, Of-230, I-864 usually. Are you certain that you filled out and paid for I-485 at this point? I guess it doesn't REALLY matter but I'm attempting to understand which of your forms you might be able to retrieve/re-use/not have to pay a new fee for.

My husband owns the house outright, there is no mortgage. Thanks for the information you provided.

That's good, you may not need a joint sponsor then, and you might not need to add your income either. Depends on how much income your husband has per year and how much the house is worth.

This is the letter they sent my husband on April 24, 2006. I tried to scan it and put it in but it didn't work so I have typed it out for you.

Petitioner packet

Petitioners name

Address

RE: Immigran Visa Case of: MY NAME Case number

Dear Petitioner:

We have received your payment for the Affidavit of Support Fee Bill required to continue processing the visa petition that you filed on behalf of MY NAME. Enclosed is the Affidavit of Support (I 864) Form. You, the petitioner, must fill out the enclosed I-864 form for the immigrant visa applicant. Please read the enclosed instructions carefully. Send the completed Affidavit of support (I-864) form, tax return from the most recent tax year, and the enclosed barcode sheet in the envelope provided to:

National visa centre

ATTN: CMR

32 Rochester Avenue

Portsmouth, NH, 03801-2909

Your case number must be clearlt written in the upper right hand corner of ALL documents. Failure to write your case number on all documents will cause a delay in processing.

We have the following address in our files for the applicant:

MY ADDRESS.