Form I-131 emergency

[Ate 180]

7 hours ago, Mulugulu said:

USCIS will expedite an application, including an application for a travel document, Form I-131, in certain situations, which may include:

• Severe financial loss to company or person;
• Emergency situations;
• Humanitarian reasons;
• Nonprofit organization whose request is in furtherance of the cultural and social interests of the United States;
• Department of Defense or National Interest Situation (Note: The request must come from an official U.S. Government entity and state that delay will be detrimental to the Government.); 
• USCIS error; or
• Compelling interest of USCIS.

 

This is the criteria to get the AP expedited.

 

USCIS also says this on their page for emergency travel --

 

Your local office may accept an emergency advance parole application if you are experiencing an extremely urgent situation. Business trips, weddings, holiday parties, and other planned events would usually not be considered an emergency situation.

 

https://www.uscis.gov/green-card/green-card-processes-and-procedures/travel-documents/emergency-travel

 

I hope you get your AP soon.  But I suggest making alternate plans, just in case.  Good luck!

 

[Cathi 5,748]

8 hours ago, Mulugulu said:

Guys, thank you for your input.

Also, Six29 is not my account. 

I will seek advise through an immigration lawyer 

 

You'll be flushing more money down the drain with an attorney. There is nothing a lawyer can do to help your situation.

[Mulugulu 23]

Thank you guys for the input and the empathy I am receiving. I will keep you guys posted on how this journey ends. I will keep my hopes up, because everything in my life always ended well. I am prepared to reschedule the wedding celebration, even if it means to take a high loss but I am working towards receiving an advance parole on my preferred time. 

 

[Hemutian 68]

15 hours ago, Mulugulu said:

My fiancee and I are about 1 year behind you in the process. We are also worried that we might find ourselves in a situation similar to yours.

Sent in I-129F in February 2019, hoping to get K1 and be in US by December 2019. Will then get married (officially), apply for AOS, and apply for I-131, so that we can go back to China and have the ceremony with her family in Summer 2019.

Obviously, wedding venues and caterers etc need to be booked in advance, and guests notified in advance.

But since the time it takes to process the I-131 is 5-7 months, we're worried that the timing might be too tight, and we might not be able to hold the wedding in the summer as we'd like. 

This is really frustrating. I'm really sorry you're in this situation.

 

[Going through 5,671]

6 hours ago, Mulugulu said:

Thank you guys for the input and the empathy I am receiving. I will keep you guys posted on how this journey ends. I will keep my hopes up, because everything in my life always ended well. I am prepared to reschedule the wedding celebration, even if it means to take a high loss but I am working towards receiving an advance parole on my preferred time. 

 

Check with  your wedding vendors, usually something in the contracts regarding postponement/partial refund due to unforeseen circumstances.

[Henky 0]

17 hours ago, Mulugulu said:

Hi everybody, 

 

I have a problem and will try to explain my whole case in a few sentences, hoping someone will be able to help me: 

 

We applied for the 129f in March of 2018, I was admitted to the US on December 20th as a K1 Visa holder. 

My then fiancé and I got married on the 21st of February and applied for AOS (485) along with AP (131) and EAD (765) on March 1st. Two days ago I received an email stating, that the case was received on March 8th.

 

We planned our wedding which will take place in Germany on July 6th of 2019 in the beginning of last year, booked our venue, florists, dj, cake, photo-/videographer and sent out our invites in the beginning of this year.

 

Since it is a destination wedding we are expecting guests not just from America and Germany, but from all around the world. A lot of guests already booked their flights and also booked their hotels. 

 

Last night I checked, how long the processing times for the i131 are and I got stunned. The uscis website says it will take between 5-7 months. I have to be in Germany in 3 1/2 months. 

 

The wedding party costs approximately 30k and that just includes the costs me and my wife have. 

 

Would I be eligible for an expedited AP? 

Is this reason for an emergency, since I would take a severe financial damage of I can't make it to my own wedding? 

Should I just sit and wait and hope that my documents get to me on time? 

 

Thank you in advance everyone! 

 

 

You guys would have used the 6 months waiting time on k1 visa to do the wedding in Germany(remember once you have that visa in your pass u can do anything abroad eg the type of wedding you want then fly to US and 4months would have been enough to plan the wedding out there) then both of you travel to the US and do the court house wedding there with family and friends or just you and your partner and a witness any thing immigration under Trump can not be trusted because of timing recently.

[Kowatti 189]

17 hours ago, Mulugulu said:

Hi everybody, 

 

I have a problem and will try to explain my whole case in a few sentences, hoping someone will be able to help me: 

 

We applied for the 129f in March of 2018, I was admitted to the US on December 20th as a K1 Visa holder. 

My then fiancé and I got married on the 21st of February and applied for AOS (485) along with AP (131) and EAD (765) on March 1st. Two days ago I received an email stating, that the case was received on March 8th.

 

We planned our wedding which will take place in Germany on July 6th of 2019 in the beginning of last year, booked our venue, florists, dj, cake, photo-/videographer and sent out our invites in the beginning of this year.

 

Since it is a destination wedding we are expecting guests not just from America and Germany, but from all around the world. A lot of guests already booked their flights and also booked their hotels. 

 

Last night I checked, how long the processing times for the i131 are and I got stunned. The uscis website says it will take between 5-7 months. I have to be in Germany in 3 1/2 months. 

 

The wedding party costs approximately 30k and that just includes the costs me and my wife have. 

 

Would I be eligible for an expedited AP? 

Is this reason for an emergency, since I would take a severe financial damage of I can't make it to my own wedding? 

Should I just sit and wait and hope that my documents get to me on time? 

 

Thank you in advance everyone! 

 

 

Like everyone is saying, this scenario is not considered an emergency.  A suggestion would be to simply get family from both sides to call everyone who was invited & cancel for now.  People might not get all their money back from booking flights & etc, but at least they will not show up at an event that will not be taking place.  Never plan anything like this until you have your documents on hand.  Good luck to you.  

[Unlockable 7,314]

3 hours ago, Henky said:

You guys would have used the 6 months waiting time on k1 visa to do the wedding in Germany(remember once you have that visa in your pass u can do anything abroad eg the type of wedding you want then fly to US and 4months would have been enough to plan the wedding out there) then both of you travel to the US and do the court house wedding there with family and friends or just you and your partner and a witness any thing immigration under Trump can not be trusted because of timing recently.

HI @Henky,

 

I know you are trying to help but this advice you gave above in bold is not accurate. A person can NOT have a wedding before entering the US on a K1 visa. Once they are married before entering on a K1, it voids their eligibility of being a K1 recipient. Advising them to get married prior to entering the US on a K1 can lead to big problems such as denial of AOS or other immigration processes, loss of legal status, or misrepresentation/ fraud charges.

 

Also, Trump has nothing to do with current immigration processes. Even with the government shutdown that happened earlier this year, the timing of immigration stayed the same. 

[geowrian 22,337]

3 hours ago, Henky said:

You guys would have used the 6 months waiting time on k1 visa to do the wedding in Germany(remember once you have that visa in your pass u can do anything abroad eg the type of wedding you want then fly to US and 4months would have been enough to plan the wedding out there) then both of you travel to the US and do the court house wedding there with family and friends or just you and your partner and a witness any thing immigration under Trump can not be trusted because of timing recently.

1) CBP can deny entry if they believe the visa was improperly issued or the holder no longer qualifies for the benefit. Even a non-legal wedding can and has resulted in being denied entry.

2) An actual wedding/marriage would make using the visa fraud - it is only permitted to be used by a fiance/fiancee. One must remain free to marry until entry into the US. These are the terms of the visa.

[Crazy Cat 41,847]

3 hours ago, Henky said:

You guys would have used the 6 months waiting time on k1 visa to do the wedding in Germany(remember once you have that visa in your pass u can do anything abroad eg the type of wedding you want then fly to US

Not legally, they can't.  A K-1 visa REQUIRES marriage INSIDE THE US.

[WeGuyGal 1,052]

Ironic how someone who joins a week prior suddenly becomes an immigration expert

[AL-MJD 144]

my take is, an immigration lawyer is an unnecessary expense because of all the weird and sad things i heard about them. also i witnessed a lawyered-up couple during my AoS interview that... didn't do so good.

 

but anyway, i think OP should just start calling up family and friends and warn them about the cancellations. i fly a lot, so i don't think there will be an issue with postponing all the flights and hotel stays. and i think start now better than later. i mean honestly, sometimes, if you explain your immigration woes to your suppliers and organisers, you'll be surprised how understanding and accomdating they can be.

 

i know it looks easier to expedite, but the honest truth is that the AoS/AP/EAD process don't give a flying f*** about your personal plans......

 

i also had to cancel a destination wedding because i thought that i would have my visa on hand by December, my K1 NOA1 was June?, and i booked something for February. turned out my approval was February. not even the transfer to NVC yet.

 

but oh wells. 

[dentsflogged 352]

16 hours ago, Loren Y said:

Looks like OP took a gamble with not good odds and is going to be paying the house on this one ( I love Las Vegas references). I took a gamble myself and booked a trip back to Thailand in the Middle of November this year ( I couldn't pass up 2 round trip tickets for $657 and change). I just did Biometrics today for AOS, but I bought tickets in February, so I now have 8 Months for the AP/EAD card to arrive, when I booked the tickets I was 9 months out, and I was still thinking I might not get the EAD/AP card in time, and I was 9 months out. I think my odds are better than yours, but I could still end up paying the house also, but only to the tune of $657 dollars, I can take that loss, no way 30k, that hurts and I wish you the best of luck.

Hope it works out!   I filed Jan 25th, biometrics on Feb 18th and I'm hoping my AP is approved by mid September for a wedding I'd like to go to - thankfully my tickets are changable though, so at worst I'm out $300 change fee. I can't imagine losing 30k because of no AP! 

[Villanelle 4,122]

This thread is already 4 pages long! I guess everyone loves anothers misfortunes...

 

Anyway processing times for the EAD/AP have been over 3 months for over a year now, and even if it wasnt that long I also do not have much sympathy for someone that makes plans during the process and then has issues. You need to ask for an expedite for the 131. Lately because of the delay in processing times everyone has been asking for EAD or AP expedites and at first USCIS was handing them out like candy. They have since wised up and now almost every expedite request is being declined. 

 

You should try to expedite anyway. Use your congressperson for assistance. Best of luck, and remember do not leave the US with out your AP or else you will have to return to the US with out your spouse and they will have to apply for the CR visa. If you really cant afford to lose your money then thats what you might have to do- be separated for another 12+months to do the CR.

[Boiler 45,494]

They are spending the money on a party, may be a lot to many on here but I assume most budgets for a party and somewhat less.