Here We Go Again

[Halo Bule 8]

Facts

The last time I was on here was regarding the denial of two tourist visas for my wife to visit my Country the good ol' USA. My wife is Indonesian , we are both in our  mid 40's , we married July 1st 2018.

Our original intent for applying for the tourist visa was for my wife to accompany me during work, see my family , see the statue of liberty, shop, and site see  for  4 to 6  months before we both returned to USA. On my last post this community determined that I had more ties in America than In Indonesia, the consulate automatically assumes every tourist visa applicant has intent to overstay their visa and never return to their home. No need to discuss tourist visas anymore because we  recently decided that moving o the USA would be .....

A. a better choice for our future.

B. a better chance of having her visa approved if we applied for cr1.

C. we are tired of getting denied by reapplying for tourist visa.

so we are moving on. Originally I stated I had a job in Colorado , A place to live which is partially true but only temporary. A friend lets me keep a room in his house indefinitely but my wife can not stay there , only me. I no longer have a current job, I am a seasonal salesman, a roofing salesman, which means I only make money if it hails which it didn't this year. Due to a hip injury I am currently seeking work outside the USA closer to Indonesia but could have my job back at any time in USA> I have a mother and father in the USA who are both 80 yrs old, one has Parkinson's the other has dementia. My wife would like to meet both asap. Neither of us want my wife to lose her rights in Indonesia so she will try her hardest to keep her residency in Indonesia, but for now we are saying " we just want to move to the USA''. If for some reason she needs to fly back and forth in the future , we will but neither of us want her to lose her rights as a Indonesian, especially for owning land or buying a house which is our 2 year goal. 

Facts about Wife :

She is the owner of a event organizing business

She has a daughter who is 26 years old  and helps manage the company

she has had the same place of residence in Bali for 15 years

She does not own any properties as of yet.

owns a car

has her whole family in Indonesia

I am just trying to state everythig down here so i can get the most accurate help. I believe every situation is different so I really don't want to read a old thread.

 

 

So today marks the official new date of our new CR1 visa journey, Aug 13th 2019.

 

Questions I Have

1. Is trump really passing or has already passed new immigrant visa  regulations that will come into effect this October of 2019 making it even harder for my wife to come to America?

2. Is the cr1 the best route to getting into the USA for Visit or to live for my wife.

3. Does it really take a year to get approved?

4. Would it be faster if I apply for her from the USA.

5. Should I and where do I register our marriage online for the USA, we are already registered in Indonesia and I filled out and paid the intent to marry thing at the US embassy prior to marriage.

6. Should I fill out the I-30 form asap ?

7. Since I am not earning money at the moment will we have problems with getting her approved? Is there a minimum income I have to have? Or is it joint now that we are married?

8. Am I missing any other important questions?

9. Can we hire someone for this process to help with paperwork? or is it easy to do?

10. should we get a lawyer and what is normal price ? should we hire in Indonesia or USA?

 

Any help will be much appreciated and I will keep posting and updating here until this process is finished.

 

 

Gerry

 

 

Edited August 13, 2019 by Halo Bule

[Unlockable 7,316]

2 hours ago, Halo Bule said:

1. Is trump really passing or has already passed new immigrant visa  regulations that will come into effect this October of 2019 making it even harder for my wife to come to America?

This is NOT a new immigration visa. It is an amendment to an already existing law. It is to ensure that immigrants do not become public charges by using welfare and medicaid, etc. There is a huge ongoing thread discussing it now.

 

2 hours ago, Halo Bule said:

2. Is the cr1 the best route to getting into the USA for Visit or to live for my wife.

It is the ONLY route. you are married so the spousal visa is the visa for you.

 

2 hours ago, Halo Bule said:

3. Does it really take a year to get approved?

Yes, and maybe even longer. It has taken that long for a while. You are simply finding that out now. Nothing in immigration is fast.

 

2 hours ago, Halo Bule said:

4. Would it be faster if I apply for her from the USA.

Nope. You have to apply in the US regardless. There is no DCF for Indonesia. So your petition has to be sent to the US if you are not living here.

https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/find-uscis-office/international-immigration-offices

 

2 hours ago, Halo Bule said:

5. Should I and where do I register our marriage online for the USA, we are already registered in Indonesia and I filled out and paid the intent to marry thing at the US embassy prior to marriage.

This is one of the biggest misconceptions of people with foreign marriages. Many believe that if they marry in another country it is not counted if it is not registered in the US. Married is married. Your marriage doesn't simply dissolve just because you step foot in another country. You don't have to register your marriage in the US. You will simply send your marriage information with your case.

 

2 hours ago, Halo Bule said:

6. Should I fill out the I-30 form asap ?

Up to you

 

2 hours ago, Halo Bule said:

7. Since I am not earning money at the moment will we have problems with getting her approved? Is there a minimum income I have to have? Or is it joint now that we are married?

And this is where the "public charge" that the new policy (notice I said "policy", not "new law" or "new visa") come into play. The new policy will look at how the petitioner would be able to financially provide for the incoming immigrant. They are cracking down as a measure to reduce people not being able to afford to support immigrants and using public benefits. So you would need to establish domicile in the US. You will need to show how you will support your wife after the transition. And this may be the most difficult part of your case. Because, yes, you case can be denied if you can not show that you are able to support her.

 

2 hours ago, Halo Bule said:

8. Am I missing any other important questions?

Don't know that.

 

2 hours ago, Halo Bule said:

9. Can we hire someone for this process to help with paperwork? or is it easy to do?

10. should we get a lawyer and what is normal price ? should we hire in Indonesia or USA?

Those are the same questions so I combined them. I can tell you this, VJ is a DIY forum. The vast majority of people here have done their cases themselves. So you my get a lot of answers telling you not to hire someone. But the decision is yours. Lawyers can be expensive. Nobody is immune to mistakes. We have seen both services and lawyers screw up people's cases. What ever decision you make, you will be doing the most work. It is you that have to give them the evidence (marriage and relationship, financial, family history, etc). They just put the evidence you give them together and send it off. But everything you need is located here to help you. https://www.visajourney.com/content/guides/

 

Edited August 13, 2019 by Unlockable

[Halo Bule 8]

 

@Unlockable 

Thank you, I know I'll have more questions but one came up as I was filling out the I-30. They ask how many times I was married. Does it matter how many times I was married , who I was married to, and how long I was married when it comes to approving my wife for entry?

Edited August 13, 2019 by Halo Bule

[Halo Bule 8]

I was asking if I should file asap because we definitely do not need any more barriers to get through like the final public charge rule that goes into effect this October. Lets say I send off all my paperwork before September, will my application still be filtered by this ?

 

As far as income, I still have a job and enough income to last for a few more years. I am sure Ill have new income rolling in soon as well. Does anyone know if there is a minimum amount that has to be in bank account or any other documents? I know they will check to see if I ever collected welfare / food stamps, a credit check, see if i ever filed BK....so to avoid all this, do I have enough time to file before October . Originally I was going to wait until we were married at least 2 years, travel to other places to get more visa stamps on her passport. Also my wife has a pretty good income herself so don't they do a combined income or consider her wealth? She makes a good living actually. Or will they ignore that just to make it more difficult putting all responsibility on me the petitioner?

 

So again, to avoid all this, if we sent all paperwork and paid for everything could we avoid less headache

Edited August 13, 2019 by Halo Bule

[Halo Bule 8]

i guess i am avoiding it if it's not on the application yet?

[Crazy Cat 42,648]

29 minutes ago, Halo Bule said:

 

@Unlockable 

Thank you, I know I'll have more questions but one came up as I was filling out the I-30. They ask how many times I was married. Does it matter how many times I was married , who I was married to, and how long I was married when it comes to approving my wife for entry?

No, but you must be able to provide complete legal marriage termination documents for all previous marriages.

[aaron2020 11,651]

5 hours ago, Halo Bule said:

Facts

The last time I was on here was regarding the denial of two tourist visas for my wife to visit my Country the good ol' USA. My wife is Indonesian , we are both in our  mid 40's , we married July 1st 2018.

Our original intent for applying for the tourist visa was for my wife to accompany me during work, see my family , see the statue of liberty, shop, and site see  for  4 to 6  months before we both returned to USA. On my last post this community determined that I had more ties in America than In Indonesia, the consulate automatically assumes every tourist visa applicant has intent to overstay their visa and never return to their home. No need to discuss tourist visas anymore because we  recently decided that moving o the USA would be .....

A. a better choice for our future.

B. a better chance of having her visa approved if we applied for cr1.

C. we are tired of getting denied by reapplying for tourist visa.

so we are moving on. Originally I stated I had a job in Colorado , A place to live which is partially true but only temporary. A friend lets me keep a room in his house indefinitely but my wife can not stay there , only me. I no longer have a current job, I am a seasonal salesman, a roofing salesman, which means I only make money if it hails which it didn't this year. Due to a hip injury I am currently seeking work outside the USA closer to Indonesia but could have my job back at any time in USA> I have a mother and father in the USA who are both 80 yrs old, one has Parkinson's the other has dementia. My wife would like to meet both asap. Neither of us want my wife to lose her rights in Indonesia so she will try her hardest to keep her residency in Indonesia, but for now we are saying " we just want to move to the USA''. If for some reason she needs to fly back and forth in the future , we will but neither of us want her to lose her rights as a Indonesian, especially for owning land or buying a house which is our 2 year goal. 

Facts about Wife :

She is the owner of a event organizing business

She has a daughter who is 26 years old  and helps manage the company

she has had the same place of residence in Bali for 15 years

She does not own any properties as of yet.

owns a car

has her whole family in Indonesia

I am just trying to state everythig down here so i can get the most accurate help. I believe every situation is different so I really don't want to read a old thread.

 

 

So today marks the official new date of our new CR1 visa journey, Aug 13th 2019.

 

Questions I Have

1. Is trump really passing or has already passed new immigrant visa  regulations that will come into effect this October of 2019 making it even harder for my wife to come to America?

2. Is the cr1 the best route to getting into the USA for Visit or to live for my wife.

3. Does it really take a year to get approved?

4. Would it be faster if I apply for her from the USA.

5. Should I and where do I register our marriage online for the USA, we are already registered in Indonesia and I filled out and paid the intent to marry thing at the US embassy prior to marriage.

6. Should I fill out the I-30 form asap ?

7. Since I am not earning money at the moment will we have problems with getting her approved? Is there a minimum income I have to have? Or is it joint now that we are married?

8. Am I missing any other important questions?

9. Can we hire someone for this process to help with paperwork? or is it easy to do?

10. should we get a lawyer and what is normal price ? should we hire in Indonesia or USA?

 

Any help will be much appreciated and I will keep posting and updating here until this process is finished.

 

 

Gerry

 

 

1.  Maybe since you have no job and there is increase scrutiny for being a likely public charge.   

2.  A green card is for living in the US.  It is not for visits to the US.  

3.  12-18 months.

4.  No.  You have to file at the Chicago lockbox regardless of where you are.

5.  The US does not have a marriage registry.  

6.  Yes.

7.  Yes.  Google I-864p.  Since you have no income, you will need to have a Joint Sponsor who can meet the financial requirements.

8.  Don't know.

9.  Hire a US immigration lawyer if you can't do it yourself.  Most folks here have done it themselves.  Easy is relative to how well you research, read, and keep up on things - after all it's DIY, not others doing it for you.  

10.  Up to you to get a lawyer.  Expect to pay $2000-$5000.  I would not hire someone in Indonesia.  

[SalishSea 18,233]

9 hours ago, Halo Bule said:

i guess i am avoiding it if it's not on the application yet?

Incorrect.  You will be subject to the same income guidelines.  Nothing there has changed.  You will want to thoroughly investigate domicile and the financial means you will need to sponsor an immigrant.

[Just Paul 4,595]

File the I-130 and you will have a year to get your finances in order before needing to submit the I-864.  This will also give you time to find a joint sponsor.   Time will always work against you in immigration,  Laws, policies and rules change.  Waits are getting longer.

 

13 hours ago, Halo Bule said:

If for some reason she needs to fly back and forth in the future , we will but neither of us want her to lose her rights as a Indonesian, especially for owning land or buying a house which is our 2 year goal. 

Your wife can travel back and forth right away.  She can't apply for US citizenship for at least 3 years so that won't interfere with any status in Indonesia.  In fact she never has to become a US Citizen.

 

 

[Cheschirecat 176]

11 hours ago, missileman said:

No, but you must be able to provide complete legal marriage termination documents for all previous marriages.

@Unlockable you’re a saint ❤️

[JFH 12,191]

*~*~*moved from “DCF” to “IR-1/CR-1 spouse visa process and procedures” as OP does not live in a DCF-eligible location*~*~*

[LilyJ 1,258]

13 hours ago, Halo Bule said:

I was asking if I should file asap because we definitely do not need any more barriers to get through like the final public charge rule that goes into effect this October. Lets say I send off all my paperwork before September, will my application still be filtered by this ?

 

As far as income, I still have a job and enough income to last for a few more years. I am sure Ill have new income rolling in soon as well. Does anyone know if there is a minimum amount that has to be in bank account or any other documents? I know they will check to see if I ever collected welfare / food stamps, a credit check, see if i ever filed BK....so to avoid all this, do I have enough time to file before October . Originally I was going to wait until we were married at least 2 years, travel to other places to get more visa stamps on her passport. Also my wife has a pretty good income herself so don't they do a combined income or consider her wealth? She makes a good living actually. Or will they ignore that just to make it more difficult putting all responsibility on me the petitioner?

 

So again, to avoid all this, if we sent all paperwork and paid for everything could we avoid less headache

It always has been, and always will be, that you have to prove you have enough current income and/or assets to show your spouse will not become a public charge. You will have to prove your income is 125% above the poverty guideline, or find a qualifying joint sponsor. If you use assets, the assets must be 5x the 125% guideline. They will not consider your wife's income at all unless it will be continuing once she moves to the US (and should she receive a green card, the US will HAVE to stay as her main residence, or else she will lose the green card. She can travel. But the US must be her main residence). Whether you file before October or not makes no difference. You will always have to prove that you have enough income to prove to the consular officer that she won't become a public charge, as others have already said this is nothing new. Even IF it was how it worked, it will be way past October before you reach the NVC stage where you will submit your income information.

[pushbrk 13,217]

14 hours ago, Halo Bule said:

 

@Unlockable 

Thank you, I know I'll have more questions but one came up as I was filling out the I-30. They ask how many times I was married. Does it matter how many times I was married , who I was married to, and how long I was married when it comes to approving my wife for entry?

It matters that you tell the truth.  It matters that any and all prior marriages were terminated, and that you provide the appropriate documentation that they were.

[pushbrk 13,217]

35 minutes ago, LilyJ said:

You will have to prove your income is 125% above the poverty guideline, or find a qualifying joint sponsor. 

This is incorrect.  Evidence of income is at or above 125% OF the poverty line.  For example if the poverty line is 20, you need 25, not 45.  125% above 20 is 45.  125 OF 20 is 25.  Using correct terminology and language is critical here.

[pushbrk 13,217]

18 hours ago, Halo Bule said:

 

4. Would it be faster if I apply for her from the USA.

 

 

 

You will file your petition by mail or courier to an address in the US.  SHE, will apply for a visa AFTER your petition is approved.  YOU will "apply for" nothing at all.  There is one route available to you to be together in the USA.  One and only one.