Desperately seeking help - Newlyweds & Lost

[HKMyers 0]

Ok so we are newlyweds (US & Belgium)

We are getting the run around from basically everyone we've reached out to. We are trying to get clarity on this whole process. We are going to submit our I-130 asap - however, we need to know a few things. 

 

1. Can my wife (Belgian) visit me in the US while the visa process is ongoing? this has not been explained to us by any US authority, only a prior belgian national told us via facebook - that they were turned around after arriving in the US because they were visiting during the process

2. If this is the case - how are we supposed to happily maintain our marriage? we've been told a visa may take 1 1/2 years 

3. We are trying to file our I-130 here (Belgium) - however, the US Embassy will not do that unless exemption is filed, and we do not know if our case is strong enough for that. I must return to the US by the 29th of June, my visa will expire, I can't lose my job (they will only hold it a bit longer), and I must be in place for my classes in University. 

 

We are overwhelmed with questions and the lack of ability to speak to someone is astounding. Both of us have trouble feeling confident moving forward with anything because each time we try to help ourselves, it seems to not work out. We need to make plans for our future, but we have zero help. We cannot afford a lawyer, so we are doing the best we can. Ultimately, my biggest concern is being able to see my wife - she and I feel our hearts break at the mere thought of not even being able to visit during the visa process. 

 

Any hope would be helpful. We are looking to do this right and well, but we need legit contact with people to do this. Thank you for your time. 

[Georgia16 2,858]

If you return home then there are not a ground for DCF.

 

But yes she can visit you doing this process it will take around a year. She should bring a little proof that she will return to home country like work contract, lease or whatever. A lot of people visit each other doing the process no worries there

 

Also you can do this yourself there are a lot of help to get in here. Also look at the guides here:

 

http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide1

[millefleur 5,047]

Belgium doesn't have DCF processing.

[Penguin_ie 5,996]

1. Yes she can visit, but she cannot live or work in the USA- she will need to leave after the 90 days the VWP gives her, and it is best to stay out for at least as long as she was in the USA.

2.  That is hard, but you have a lot of spport here from thousands who go through the same.  Skype a lot, visit eachother, send romantic written letters etc....

3.  You cannot file DCF; you will need to file through the US lockbox. 

Edited May 31, 2017 by Penguin_ie

[millefleur 5,047]

The visa us currently taking about 1 year from the time you send in your I-130. Of course it can take longer but usually if there aren't an issues or bumps along the way, 1 year is pretty standard.

 

You'll find plenty of help and advice here on VJ. Like @Georgia16 said: read the guides and try to get your I-130 sent out as soon as you can.

 

 

[Duncan21 202]

6 hours ago, HKMyers said:

Ok so we are newlyweds (US & Belgium)

We are getting the run around from basically everyone we've reached out to. We are trying to get clarity on this whole process. We are going to submit our I-130 asap - however, we need to know a few things. 

 

1. Can my wife (Belgian) visit me in the US while the visa process is ongoing? this has not been explained to us by any US authority, only a prior belgian national told us via facebook - that they were turned around after arriving in the US because they were visiting during the process

2. If this is the case - how are we supposed to happily maintain our marriage? we've been told a visa may take 1 1/2 years 

3. We are trying to file our I-130 here (Belgium) - however, the US Embassy will not do that unless exemption is filed, and we do not know if our case is strong enough for that. I must return to the US by the 29th of June, my visa will expire, I can't lose my job (they will only hold it a bit longer), and I must be in place for my classes in University. 

 

We are overwhelmed with questions and the lack of ability to speak to someone is astounding. Both of us have trouble feeling confident moving forward with anything because each time we try to help ourselves, it seems to not work out. We need to make plans for our future, but we have zero help. We cannot afford a lawyer, so we are doing the best we can. Ultimately, my biggest concern is being able to see my wife - she and I feel our hearts break at the mere thought of not even being able to visit during the visa process. 

 

Any hope would be helpful. We are looking to do this right and well, but we need legit contact with people to do this. Thank you for your time. 

Does your wife already have a US Tourist Visa in hand?  If so, then she should not have any issues.  Agree with the earlier post that she should bring some proof that she intends to return to her home country.  She can provide at least a flight itinerary showing a return trip, any proof of employment in her country, etc.  If questioned by US immigration, she can say that she is visiting her husband and that he filed an I-130 petition.  My wife was able to visit me here in the US while we were going through this process; they never asked her any questions.  You can find all the information that you need to file here on visajourney.  Please do a lot of research beforehand before submitting your petition because any missing paperwork will delay the process.  Also, keep proof of all trips you take to see her, and all trips she take to see you here in the US, and take pictures on all trips

[Auds 223]

I remember feeling like this last year.  Lots of tears - shock, ended up draining my entire business due to being unable to wok etc.

 

in the end we have to hold together and time does pass even when we dont want it to.

 

i am a week away from interview and we are nearly at the end...  

 

visiting is possible and many do.  More so i found visiting towards second half of the processing becomes even easier as they see most would likely not risk not going back at that stage.  I was granted a new visa in my second half of processing even and visited twice in the past 3 months with barely a minute or two of questions - big smiles, jokes and 'have fun' comments by CBP.

[HKMyers 0]

First off, I want to thank all of you for the support. 

 

My wife & I have felt a roller coaster of emotions in the last 24 hours over the deliberation on visiting. Thankfully our hearts didn't fall out of our butts - all because of you guys letting us know we can see each other. 

 

Today I am filling out the I-130, however - most important to note - the US Embassy/Consulate in Belgium does not have a phone number to call to address questions for the I-130 process, just an email (brusselsiv@state.gov - for anyone wondering). Our biggest stumbling block is how do we pay the fee? Because of the holiday coming up, we may, at the earliest be able to get this to the Chicago lockbox by mid-month, which is obviously not ideal. But that's only because we don't know how to pay.

 

Otherwise we are gathering all our info today from Town hall, demanding copies of my birth certificate (they kept my original one - saying they won't give it back because it's archival evidence of our marriage) and the multilingual marriage certificate (as they did not give us one, only Dutch ones) Dendermonde has been nothing but staunchly Dutch in it's proceedings, we are hoping for the best. Also we are going to a photographer today to get the 2X2 photos, I'm guessing they are standard passport photos, but the measurements on the I-130 are EXTREMELY Specific, and obviously inches, so the photographer has no idea what that means in CM's, or to get it that close. Any advice is welcome. 

 

Thank you again - we really appreciate it

 H&K  

[Auds 223]

1 hour ago, HKMyers said:

First off, I want to thank all of you for the support. 

 

My wife & I have felt a roller coaster of emotions in the last 24 hours over the deliberation on visiting. Thankfully our hearts didn't fall out of our butts - all because of you guys letting us know we can see each other. 

 

Today I am filling out the I-130, however - most important to note - the US Embassy/Consulate in Belgium does not have a phone number to call to address questions for the I-130 process, just an email (brusselsiv@state.gov - for anyone wondering). Our biggest stumbling block is how do we pay the fee? Because of the holiday coming up, we may, at the earliest be able to get this to the Chicago lockbox by mid-month, which is obviously not ideal. But that's only because we don't know how to pay.

 

Otherwise we are gathering all our info today from Town hall, demanding copies of my birth certificate (they kept my original one - saying they won't give it back because it's archival evidence of our marriage) and the multilingual marriage certificate (as they did not give us one, only Dutch ones) Dendermonde has been nothing but staunchly Dutch in it's proceedings, we are hoping for the best. Also we are going to a photographer today to get the 2X2 photos, I'm guessing they are standard passport photos, but the measurements on the I-130 are EXTREMELY Specific, and obviously inches, so the photographer has no idea what that means in CM's, or to get it that close. Any advice is welcome. 

 

Thank you again - we really appreciate it

 H&K  

Google will convert inches to cm

 

good luck.  Keep strong.  You guys are young and have a life ahead.

[Georgia16 2,858]

3 hours ago, HKMyers said:

First off, I want to thank all of you for the support. 

 

My wife & I have felt a roller coaster of emotions in the last 24 hours over the deliberation on visiting. Thankfully our hearts didn't fall out of our butts - all because of you guys letting us know we can see each other. 

 

Today I am filling out the I-130, however - most important to note - the US Embassy/Consulate in Belgium does not have a phone number to call to address questions for the I-130 process, just an email (brusselsiv@state.gov - for anyone wondering). Our biggest stumbling block is how do we pay the fee? Because of the holiday coming up, we may, at the earliest be able to get this to the Chicago lockbox by mid-month, which is obviously not ideal. But that's only because we don't know how to pay.

 

Otherwise we are gathering all our info today from Town hall, demanding copies of my birth certificate (they kept my original one - saying they won't give it back because it's archival evidence of our marriage) and the multilingual marriage certificate (as they did not give us one, only Dutch ones) Dendermonde has been nothing but staunchly Dutch in it's proceedings, we are hoping for the best. Also we are going to a photographer today to get the 2X2 photos, I'm guessing they are standard passport photos, but the measurements on the I-130 are EXTREMELY Specific, and obviously inches, so the photographer has no idea what that means in CM's, or to get it that close. Any advice is welcome. 

 

Thank you again - we really appreciate it

 H&K  

You will have nothing to do with the embassy until the interview (when they contact you) they will not help you fill out the I-130 you have to use the guides in here and otherwise people are very nice to help.

 

As stated in the guide you have to get a check attached to the package when you send it in. 

[Duncan21 202]

4 hours ago, HKMyers said:

First off, I want to thank all of you for the support. 

 

My wife & I have felt a roller coaster of emotions in the last 24 hours over the deliberation on visiting. Thankfully our hearts didn't fall out of our butts - all because of you guys letting us know we can see each other. 

 

Today I am filling out the I-130, however - most important to note - the US Embassy/Consulate in Belgium does not have a phone number to call to address questions for the I-130 process, just an email (brusselsiv@state.gov - for anyone wondering). Our biggest stumbling block is how do we pay the fee? Because of the holiday coming up, we may, at the earliest be able to get this to the Chicago lockbox by mid-month, which is obviously not ideal. But that's only because we don't know how to pay.

 

Otherwise we are gathering all our info today from Town hall, demanding copies of my birth certificate (they kept my original one - saying they won't give it back because it's archival evidence of our marriage) and the multilingual marriage certificate (as they did not give us one, only Dutch ones) Dendermonde has been nothing but staunchly Dutch in it's proceedings, we are hoping for the best. Also we are going to a photographer today to get the 2X2 photos, I'm guessing they are standard passport photos, but the measurements on the I-130 are EXTREMELY Specific, and obviously inches, so the photographer has no idea what that means in CM's, or to get it that close. Any advice is welcome. 

 

Thank you again - we really appreciate it

 H&K  

I can certainly understand your frustration.  Did her social security card arrive as yet?  FYI - in our DS-260 application, we indicated that we would like to apply for a SS number/card; after 3 weeks passed since my wife's entry into the US, we went into our local SS office and we were told there was nothing in the system for her and we just filled a new application.  They can use her immigrant visa in her passport for this, and do not need the green card.

[HKMyers 0]

Again, thank you guys. 

 

BTW - maybe I'm using this wrong, but it seems that the example for the I-130 is an old form, the new I-130/I-130A are much different. 

 

I did hear back from the embassy and they told me to contact USCIS directly to ask how we can pay from overseas. Basically the situation we are in now is, we can submit everything to the lockbox in about 10 days, the only thing we don't know is how to pay from overseas. The online I-130 instructions from USCIS do not state how you can pay for it overseas (other than the generic response of "contact your embassy/consulate" - which we have and they cannot process payment, so we are clueless) Otherwise, I'm guessing we are stuck.. that I'll have to file it in July for us, which means getting another set of photographs for the paperwork. I'm not mad about getting new photos, it is whatever it is ($20 each time) - just frustrated.  I reached out to the lockbox email today and hopefully I find out how to send the fee. We're worried because of my short time left here. 

 

* Duncan21  - Addressing the social security card - we haven't heard about where to file for this or what form, I looked on the SSI website and they said just to "check the box" on our visa application for an SSI card for my wife, I haven't seen one.                                                           Maybe this is when we can finally file for the Visa? 

[Boiler 46,057]

Send a cheque drawn  on a US bank account

[Duncan21 202]

1 hour ago, HKMyers said:

Again, thank you guys. 

 

BTW - maybe I'm using this wrong, but it seems that the example for the I-130 is an old form, the new I-130/I-130A are much different. 

 

I did hear back from the embassy and they told me to contact USCIS directly to ask how we can pay from overseas. Basically the situation we are in now is, we can submit everything to the lockbox in about 10 days, the only thing we don't know is how to pay from overseas. The online I-130 instructions from USCIS do not state how you can pay for it overseas (other than the generic response of "contact your embassy/consulate" - which we have and they cannot process payment, so we are clueless) Otherwise, I'm guessing we are stuck.. that I'll have to file it in July for us, which means getting another set of photographs for the paperwork. I'm not mad about getting new photos, it is whatever it is ($20 each time) - just frustrated.  I reached out to the lockbox email today and hopefully I find out how to send the fee. We're worried because of my short time left here. 

 

* Duncan21  - Addressing the social security card - we haven't heard about where to file for this or what form, I looked on the SSI website and they said just to "check the box" on our visa application for an SSI card for my wife, I haven't seen one.                                                           Maybe this is when we can finally file for the Visa? 

@HKMyers my sincere apologies....I responded about the SS card on the wrong thread!  

[Ryan H 3,830]

Moved from Progress Reports to Process & Procedures.