Need Urgent Advice on brining daughter and Fiance

[Just Paul 4,595]

36 minutes ago, Ceofromthevalley said:

Thank you very much. Extremely helpful. Trying to find the best attorney for this job is very tough. I think we may Opt for the Spousal Visa — only issue is that we are not married. So I will have to fly to Germany somehow to get that done 

You can marry anywhere - the two of you can get married at.   Many european countries do make a challenge.  GIbraltar is pretty easy I hear.

 

There isn't much an attorney can do that you wouldn't do.  Definitely not needed until the 601 is needed, if needed.

[geowrian 22,337]

2 hours ago, Ceofromthevalley said:

Thank you very much. So you’re saying that getting rejected for unlawful presence is part of the process? Then we would appeal. Doesn’t an appeal take a year? 

The visa must be refused due to the unlawful presence grounds of inadmissibility. Then the inadmissibility can be waived with an approved waiver, and the refusal can be overcome. Then they can issue the visa.

Current timelines for an I-601 seem to be speeding up based on the official processing times, although these timelines vary all the time. Timelines a year or so from now when it's time to file the I-601 might be back to the 1 year or so timeline. Or it could be even shorter. I won't try to predict what way things will go by then.

 

Note that it's not an appeal. You would not be challenging that the inadmissibility applies. It's a pretty cut and dry thing...appealing it would only make sense if there was a question of how long the overstay was and it impacted if the ban applied or not.

You would be filing a waiver to waive the inadmissibility. It's basically saying "Despite x, the visa should be issued because...".

 

2 hours ago, Ceofromthevalley said:

for a spousal visa I assume I’ll have to be married to her which I am yet not. Trying to jump through hoops to get into Germany so that I can do that and spend time with my family. 

Correct.

Note that you can marry anywhere, if that helps. It does not need to be in Germany.

[SalishSea 18,016]

19 hours ago, Ceofromthevalley said:

Yes she is my biological daughter, thank you. I will definitely pursue that. Will it help my fiancé have a better chance of coming to USA if I do that? 

No.

[Boiler 45,837]

Wonder why you need a FOIA, does she not know what she did and what happened?

[xzsca10 33]

5 hours ago, Boiler said:

Wonder why you need a FOIA, does she not know what she did and what happened?

She doesn’t recall exactly how many days she overstayed as she was in detention while her “overstay” was being counted against her. It’s messy.. so we need FOIA to see what exactly happened 

[xzsca10 33]

17 hours ago, geowrian said:

The visa must be refused due to the unlawful presence grounds of inadmissibility. Then the inadmissibility can be waived with an approved waiver, and the refusal can be overcome. Then they can issue the visa.

Current timelines for an I-601 seem to be speeding up based on the official processing times, although these timelines vary all the time. Timelines a year or so from now when it's time to file the I-601 might be back to the 1 year or so timeline. Or it could be even shorter. I won't try to predict what way things will go by then.

 

Note that it's not an appeal. You would not be challenging that the inadmissibility applies. It's a pretty cut and dry thing...appealing it would only make sense if there was a question of how long the overstay was and it impacted if the ban applied or not.

You would be filing a waiver to waive the inadmissibility. It's basically saying "Despite x, the visa should be issued because...".

 

Correct.

Note that you can marry anywhere, if that helps. It does not need to be in Germany.

Very interesting, opened up my mind. I’ve went through 3 different attorneys and no one explained the process like this. 
 

so I will marry her, apply for the spousal visa and waiver. I’m expecting that’ll take 2 years at least? I was hoping to bring her here within a year, but that doesn’t seem possible anymore 

19 hours ago, Paul & Mary said:

You can marry anywhere - the two of you can get married at.   Many european countries do make a challenge.  GIbraltar is pretty easy I hear.

 

There isn't much an attorney can do that you wouldn't do.  Definitely not needed until the 601 is needed, if needed.

Appreciate it thank you 

[geowrian 22,337]

3 minutes ago, Ceofromthevalley said:

Very interesting, opened up my mind. I’ve went through 3 different attorneys and no one explained the process like this. 
 

so I will marry her, apply for the spousal visa and waiver. I’m expecting that’ll take 2 years at least? I was hoping to bring her here within a year, but that doesn’t seem possible anymore

Within a year for a spousal visa would be on the shorter timeframe pre-COVID and without any waiver being needed. I would say at least a year is likely for most non-waiver cases now, unless USCIS speeds up I-130 and/or the consulates get caught up with the backlog of cases during the shutdowns.

There may or may not be be Administrative Processing (AP) after the interview. With more complex cases, there tends to be a review of the case and that can take some time. No way to know if this will happen or not until after the interview.

 

Then add in the time for the waiver to filed and adjudicated. Right now, I think that's around 6 months or so, but it was closer to a year not that long ago. No way to know what to expect here until you file, and even then it could shift in either direction while waiting for it to process.

A second medical exam will likely be needed after waiver approval (I'm assuming it'll get approved if it's put together well), since the medical is only valid for up to 6 months.

 

[Boiler 45,837]

The CO will be the one who determines the length of the overstay. The FOIA takes time and may or may not be useful. Sooner you start the sooner you end up in front of the CO.

[xzsca10 33]

23 hours ago, geowrian said:

Within a year for a spousal visa would be on the shorter timeframe pre-COVID and without any waiver being needed. I would say at least a year is likely for most non-waiver cases now, unless USCIS speeds up I-130 and/or the consulates get caught up with the backlog of cases during the shutdowns.

There may or may not be be Administrative Processing (AP) after the interview. With more complex cases, there tends to be a review of the case and that can take some time. No way to know if this will happen or not until after the interview.

 

Then add in the time for the waiver to filed and adjudicated. Right now, I think that's around 6 months or so, but it was closer to a year not that long ago. No way to know what to expect here until you file, and even then it could shift in either direction while waiting for it to process.

A second medical exam will likely be needed after waiver approval (I'm assuming it'll get approved if it's put together well), since the medical is only valid for up to 6 months.

 

Thank you. I’m headed next month to Germany, then getting married and applying for the spousal visa and discarding the fiancée visa. 

[xzsca10 33]

19 hours ago, Boiler said:

The CO will be the one who determines the length of the overstay. The FOIA takes time and may or may not be useful. Sooner you start the sooner you end up in front of the CO.

This may be a stupid question but what is CO? 
we needed the FOIA because my fiancé doesn’t remember how many days she exactly overstayed and not 100% sure she’s accrued unlawful presence. 

[Boiler 45,837]

Consular Officer

 

Who will determine any overstay.

[xzsca10 33]

Hey everyone, hope you’re doing great. I have finally gotten married on December 25 in Germany. I am living with my wife and child for hopefully most of this year. 
 

unfortunately, the FOIA request my law firm filed about 5 months ago still hasn’t gotten a response. Is this normal?

 

I am thinking of just filing the FOIA request online by myself as this is taking quite long. Any insights would be greatly appreciated.

 

Happy New Years to you all ~ 

[Boiler 45,837]

FOIA are not quick and no doubt Covid has not helped.