starting e-filing for i130 and cr1. need some assistance with questions

[Rils 0]

Hi Everyone!

 

First post here. Hoping to gain and contribute to this community. Very grateful to have found it! My girlfriend and I are both living in Taiwan. I am a US Citizen and we are planning to apply to move back to the States. We will be getting married next month and want to start the application process as soon as possible. We will be going for the CR1 visa.

I have several questions that we've run into as we are trying to prepare the i-130 online to start the process as well as a couple general questions. I apologize for such a lengthy post but really if you have any advice or answers on any of the questions please let us know. I'm sure some of these have been asked before but I was having a hard time searching for eFiling info on the forum. We really appreciate any effort put in to help us out!

 

General eFiling questions:

1) We will be getting married next month and then applying almost immediately. We have a 3 year relationship with plenty of evidence. Is applying quickly after getting married seen as a red flag or issue? If so we'd want to think about K1 instead.

 

2) I wanted to make sure its okay to eFile as I am living in Taiwan and the only US contact info I could put on the form is my mother's. Will they be able to send me mail to me in Taiwan as I am listing that as my address? Or will everything be digital?

 

3) When eFiling the I-130 there are many fields where we would be writing or typing "N/A" or None on paper. Online is it better to leave these blank? I can't even type the "/" in N/A online. Especially dates that don't apply, should we just write nothing and leave them as is? There are also section on the I-130A that don't apply like interpreter sections. Should these all be filled with N/A or can they be left blank?

 

I-130 efiling questions:

1) Section: (Your Family/ Marital Status/ Current Spouse)

It asks "How many times has your beneficiary been married? When did your beneficiary's last marriage end?"

- Should I include our marriage here and say 1? There are no prior marriages. It asks for a date and only has a date field to fill in. Do I leave this blank. Obviously the one marriage which is ours won't have ended.

 

2) Section: (Beneficiary's Family/ Marital Status/ Current Spouse)

It asks " When did your last marriage end?"

-Similar confusion to above. When its asking about the beneficiary's current spouse, is that me? Or this more for helping other types of relatives with spouses? It asks when the last marriage ended but if its to me then same as above. Should this just be left blank?

 

3) Section: (Your beneficiary's employment information)

It asks "Where does the beneficiary currently work? When did the beneficiary's current employment begin?"

-As i understand I can just write unemployed in the first section for company name if unemployed. But should the date be left blank or should i list the date the unemployment began?

 

4)Section: (Your beneficiary/ beneficiary name)

It asks " Has the beneficiary used any other names since birth?

- My beneficiary's parents changed her name at 2 years old. We do have the court order showing this. We have not gotten her birth certificate yet so we're not sure if the birth name is on there. Otherwise all the documents required list her current name. Reading the question literally we would need to write this birth name and show the required docs. Just trying to see if its necessary if none of the documents have this name. Will it just cause more confusion?

 

5) Section: (Your beneficiary/ Immigration Info)

It asks " What is the beneficiary's Travel Document number? Also asks about I-94 Arrival-Departure (record number/date of arrival/ authroized stay expiry)"

-I don't know what this travel document number is. It comes right after we fill in her passport number so I assume it's not that. Any ideas?

-It seems like the I-94 is only for beneficiaries inside the US on some sort of visa. We are in Taiwan and applying from abroad. Do I leave all of this Blank or should I be putting NA in the website forms?

 

6) Section: (Additional Information/ Native Language)

It asks "Information about beneficiary in their native written language"

-What do we need to write here. Native language is Mandarin, can this be typed?

 

6) I-130A Parent's Information

It asks for City of birth

-If unsure is it okay to guess this. We for sure know the country. If we guess do we need to add an addendum to explain this?

It asks for Parent's residence

-If her father is deceased what do we write? Leave blank?

 

That's it! Again if you take the time to read any of this and supply some help we can't thank you enough.

 

Thanks!

Edited December 28, 2020 by Rils
Forgot to mention we want to do the CR1 visa

[Dashinka 25,084]

1 hour ago, Rils said:

Hi Everyone!

 

First post here. Hoping to gain and contribute to this community. Very grateful to have found it! My girlfriend and I are both living in Taiwan. I am a US Citizen and we are planning to apply to move back to the States. We will be getting married next month and want to start the application process as soon as possible. We will be going for the CR1 visa.

I have several questions that we've run into as we are trying to prepare the i-130 online to start the process as well as a couple general questions. I apologize for such a lengthy post but really if you have any advice or answers on any of the questions please let us know. I'm sure some of these have been asked before but I was having a hard time searching for eFiling info on the forum. We really appreciate any effort put in to help us out!

 

General eFiling questions:

1) We will be getting married next month and then applying almost immediately. We have a 3 year relationship with plenty of evidence. Is applying quickly after getting married seen as a red flag or issue? If so we'd want to think about K1 instead.

No red flags that I know of.

1 hour ago, Rils said:

 

2) I wanted to make sure its okay to eFile as I am living in Taiwan and the only US contact info I could put on the form is my mother's. Will they be able to send me mail to me in Taiwan as I am listing that as my address? Or will everything be digital?

It lists online filing as an option if you are both overseas.  I believe all correspondence will be digital, but you may want to list your mother’s US address for anything that comes in the mail, I am not sure if USCIS will mail overseas.

1 hour ago, Rils said:

 

3) When eFiling the I-130 there are many fields where we would be writing or typing "N/A" or None on paper. Online is it better to leave these blank? I can't even type the "/" in N/A online. Especially dates that don't apply, should we just write nothing and leave them as is? There are also section on the I-130A that don't apply like interpreter sections. Should these all be filled with N/A or can they be left blank?

In the spaces that required NA, we just put in “NA” without the slash.  For dates that do not apply such as the date a current marriage ended, we just left blank.

1 hour ago, Rils said:

 

I-130 efiling questions:

1) Section: (Your Family/ Marital Status/ Current Spouse)

It asks "How many times has your beneficiary been married? When did your beneficiary's last marriage end?"

- Should I include our marriage here and say 1? There are no prior marriages. It asks for a date and only has a date field to fill in. Do I leave this blank. Obviously the one marriage which is ours won't have ended.

Yes, include your current marriage, and leave the date ended space blank.

1 hour ago, Rils said:

 

2) Section: (Beneficiary's Family/ Marital Status/ Current Spouse)

It asks " When did your last marriage end?"

-Similar confusion to above. When its asking about the beneficiary's current spouse, is that me? Or this more for helping other types of relatives with spouses? It asks when the last marriage ended but if its to me then same as above. Should this just be left blank?

Yes, you would be the current spouse, see above.

1 hour ago, Rils said:

 

3) Section: (Your beneficiary's employment information)

It asks "Where does the beneficiary currently work? When did the beneficiary's current employment begin?"

-As i understand I can just write unemployed in the first section for company name if unemployed. But should the date be left blank or should i list the date the unemployment began?

If unemployed, leave the date blank.

1 hour ago, Rils said:

 

4)Section: (Your beneficiary/ beneficiary name)

It asks " Has the beneficiary used any other names since birth?

- My beneficiary's parents changed her name at 2 years old. We do have the court order showing this. We have not gotten her birth certificate yet so we're not sure if the birth name is on there. Otherwise all the documents required list her current name. Reading the question literally we would need to write this birth name and show the required docs. Just trying to see if its necessary if none of the documents have this name. Will it just cause more confusion?

If a legal name change happened, you should include the birth name when you get the birth certificate, then scan both documents so you can upload them as PDFs in the evidence section.

1 hour ago, Rils said:

 

5) Section: (Your beneficiary/ Immigration Info)

It asks " What is the beneficiary's Travel Document number? Also asks about I-94 Arrival-Departure (record number/date of arrival/ authroized stay expiry)"

-I don't know what this travel document number is. It comes right after we fill in her passport number so I assume it's not that. Any ideas?

-It seems like the I-94 is only for beneficiaries inside the US on some sort of visa. We are in Taiwan and applying from abroad. Do I leave all of this Blank or should I be putting NA in the website forms?

It should have asked if the beneficiary ever visited the US.  If not, then they would not have an I94 or travel document number.

1 hour ago, Rils said:

 

6) Section: (Additional Information/ Native Language)

It asks "Information about beneficiary in their native written language"

-What do we need to write here. Native language is Mandarin, can this be typed?

For us (we applied for my wife’s son recently), my wife just typed the information in his native language (Russian in this case) on a Word document and saved it as a PDF for uploading.

1 hour ago, Rils said:

 

6) I-130A Parent's Information

It asks for City of birth

-If unsure is it okay to guess this. We for sure know the country. If we guess do we need to add an addendum to explain this?

I would try to find this out if possible, maybe from a family member or something like that.  If you absolutely cannot find this out, I would put in “Unknown” rather than guessing.

1 hour ago, Rils said:

It asks for Parent's residence

-If her father is deceased what do we write? Leave blank?

We put in “NA” for my wife’s father as he is deceased.  They really should put in a question asking if the parents are still living.

1 hour ago, Rils said:

 

That's it! Again if you take the time to read any of this and supply some help we can't thank you enough.

 

Thanks!

Good Luck with the upcoming nuptials as well as your immigration journey.  You should add more details to you profile such as Country, and timeline when you start proceeding, and take a look at the Regional forums for any country specific items.

[Chancy 6,244]

3 hours ago, Rils said:

Is applying quickly after getting married seen as a red flag or issue?

 

Not a red flag since you've already spent lots of time together in person.  File soon after you get your marriage certificate.

 

3 hours ago, Rils said:

I wanted to make sure its okay to eFile as I am living in Taiwan and the only US contact info I could put on the form is my mother's. Will they be able to send me mail to me in Taiwan as I am listing that as my address? Or will everything be digital?

 

I recommend filing online.  You will get notifications through your USCIS account.  The paper copies of the same letters you get online will be sent to your mailing address.  I suggest putting your mother's US address as your mailing address.

 

3 hours ago, Rils said:

When eFiling the I-130 there are many fields where we would be writing or typing "N/A" or None on paper. Online is it better to leave these blank? I can't even type the "/" in N/A online. Especially dates that don't apply, should we just write nothing and leave them as is? There are also section on the I-130A that don't apply like interpreter sections. Should these all be filled with N/A or can they be left blank?

 

On the I-130, we answered "NOT APPLICABLE" on the text fields when possible and left the date fields blank.  On the I-130A, we put "N/A" on the first field of the related group of items -- example, "N/A" for Interpreter's Last Name and Street Number, blank for the rest.

 

3 hours ago, Rils said:

"How many times has your beneficiary been married? When did your beneficiary's last marriage end?"

 

Include current marriage, so "1".  Leave marriage end date blank.

 

3 hours ago, Rils said:

should the date be left blank or should i list the date the unemployment began?

 

Leave date blank if unemployed.

 

3 hours ago, Rils said:

Reading the question literally we would need to write this birth name and show the required docs. Just trying to see if its necessary if none of the documents have this name. Will it just cause more confusion?

 

Write original birth name on Other Names Used.  Upload a copy of the court order for the name change.  The I-130 instructions do say to include evidence of name change.

 

3 hours ago, Rils said:

-I don't know what this travel document number is. It comes right after we fill in her passport number so I assume it's not that. Any ideas?

-It seems like the I-94 is only for beneficiaries inside the US on some sort of visa. We are in Taiwan and applying from abroad. Do I leave all of this Blank or should I be putting NA in the website forms?

 

Write "Not Applicable" for both or leave blank.

 

3 hours ago, Rils said:

"Information about beneficiary in their native written language"

-What do we need to write here. Native language is Mandarin, can this be typed?

 

Yes, type this section in Mandarin.

 

3 hours ago, Rils said:

City of birth

-If unsure is it okay to guess this.

 

If you still don't find out despite your best efforts to do so, write "Unknown".

 

3 hours ago, Rils said:

Parent's residence

-If her father is deceased what do we write? Leave blank?

 

We wrote "(DECEASED)" under City and Country of Residence.

 

---

Note that all the information you enter on the online form will be converted to a PDF file that's almost identical to the paper version of the I-130 (the Additional Information part is saved as a separate PDF).  Make sure to review this case snapshot PDF, then go back to the form to make any necessary corrections before you hit Submit.

 

[seekingthetruth 1,249]

Dashinka has some solid info there.  I just did two I-130s online, on Nov. 30th, and will add a few tidbits.

 

I had many of the same questions you have.  I went over the PDF version and found that the online version differs in quite a few places, especially with the dates.  There are a few places where the "To Date" should allow "present", and on the PDF form it is allowed.

 

What I did on these, and any place else where the form would not allow the perfect answer, was to put a note in "additional information".  Once you get in and use the online form, and get used to the tabs, it is quite easy to toggle around the various forms, and go back and forth to "additional information".

 

For instance, here are two of my "additional information", straight from the saved I-130

 

When did your last marriage end?: My one and only marriage has not ended, so I left this date blank.

What is their city/town/village of residence?: Both of my parents are deceased so I put "Deceased" in "City" and left country blank

 

Regarding the mailing address, I also think it is a good idea to use a U.S. mailing address, in case something important has to be mailed down the line.  I have a U.S. mailbox address and used that.  I'm in the Philippines where the mail service is horrid, so I would never want anything mailed there.

 

It is likely you will get everything you need online.  When I submitted the I-130 online, I received the NOA1 the next day, electronically.  They also mailed the same notice, and I received it in my mailbox on Dec. 8th.

 

[Rils 0]

2 hours ago, Dashinka said:

 

It should have asked if the beneficiary ever visited the US.  If not, then they would not have an I94 or travel document number.

 

It does ask if she has ever been to the US and she has been, but only for a visit and we not currently in the USA. We chose YES for that option.

We wrote her passport in the passport field.

The travel document field not sure. She did have an ESTA visa waiver entry. So no I-94 issued. But I believe there is a number associated with it and expiration date. Which has not expired yet. Is that relevant and should I be writing that in if we are not currently in the US? The paper version leads me to believe that info is only needed if we are currently in the USA.

 

Thank you so much for your time and detailed answers. It really means the world to us that an internet stranger would go through all of our questions so quickly and with care!

[Rils 0]

@Chancy @seekingthetruth

 

Thank you both for taking the time to answer our questions. We really appreciate the help and extra info. Never a bad idea to add extra info on the additional info parts to explain yourself. Good thinking. If either of you are knowledgeable about the I-94 and travel document situation for this form I wrote a bit more info on the post above in response to Dashinka. If you have any input there as well it would be great to hear your two cents.

 

Thanks again!

[Dashinka 25,084]

2 minutes ago, Rils said:

It does ask if she has ever been to the US and she has been, but only for a visit and we not currently in the USA. We chose YES for that option.

We wrote her passport in the passport field.

The travel document field not sure. She did have an ESTA visa waiver entry. So no I-94 issued. But I believe there is a number associated with it and expiration date. Which has not expired yet. Is that relevant and should I be writing that in if we are not currently in the US? The paper version leads me to believe that info is only needed if we are currently in the USA.

 

Thank you so much for your time and detailed answers. It really means the world to us that an internet stranger would go through all of our questions so quickly and with care!

Look up her I94 record online as you will need it eventually (link below).  The travel number I believe is the Admission Record Number on the I94.

 

https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/#/home
 

Good Luck!

[Chancy 6,244]

7 minutes ago, Rils said:

The travel document field not sure.

 

Some people (like asylum seekers or those who had their passports stolen) enter the US with an emergency travel document instead of a passport.  That does not apply to your beneficiary, so you can leave that field blank or write "Not Applicable".

 

13 minutes ago, Rils said:

She did have an ESTA visa waiver entry. So no I-94 issued. But I believe there is a number associated with it and expiration date. Which has not expired yet. Is that relevant and should I be writing that in if we are not currently in the US?

 

Even with ESTA entry an I-94 record would have been generated for her visits.  Dashinka provided the link.  In any case, you do not need to put this on the I-130 as she is not currently in the US.  In our case, we wrote "Not Applicable - Not in US" to be super clear.

 

[seekingthetruth 1,249]

20 minutes ago, Dashinka said:

Look up her I94 record online as you will need it eventually (link below).  The travel number I believe is the Admission Record Number on the I94.

 

https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/#/home
 

Good Luck!

No, I-94 is only for if the beneficiary is in the U.S.  They are in Taiwan.  Here is the actual section.

 

[Rils 0]

thank you all!

[Dashinka 25,084]

1 hour ago, seekingthetruth said:

No, I-94 is only for if the beneficiary is in the U.S.  They are in Taiwan.  Here is the actual section.

 

You are correct, I missed your highlighted portion when filling out the I130 for my stepson as he has never been in the US.   Thanks for clarifying.

[Dashinka 25,084]

1 hour ago, seekingthetruth said:

No, I-94 is only for if the beneficiary is in the U.S.  They are in Taiwan.  Here is the actual section.

 

Going back and reviewing the form, I think the OP was asking about questions 46 and 48.  I agree with you on question 46, but 48 would apply if someone had ever visited the US.  Since Taiwan is part of the VWP, I would think the Travel Document Number would be part of the ESTA application.

[Chancy 6,244]

8 minutes ago, Dashinka said:

Going back and reviewing the form, I think the OP was asking about questions 46 and 48.  I agree with you on question 46, but 48 would apply if someone had ever visited the US.  Since Taiwan is part of the VWP, I would think the Travel Document Number would be part of the ESTA application.

 

The way questions 49 & 50 are phrased implies that the form expects the beneficiary to have either a passport or a travel document.  No need for both.

 

[seekingthetruth 1,249]

7 minutes ago, Dashinka said:

Going back and reviewing the form, I think the OP was asking about questions 46 and 48.  I agree with you on question 46, but 48 would apply if someone had ever visited the US.  Since Taiwan is part of the VWP, I would think the Travel Document Number would be part of the ESTA application.

Travel document is only for if they didn't travel on a passport.

 

Questions 47-50: Enter the number that the immigrant's home country put in his or her passport. Or, if the immigrant used some other type of travel document (such as parole or a refugee travel document) enter that number in Question 48.

 

BTW, @Rils With my I-130 I included as evidence of relationship a full scan of my wife's passport, every page, along with my passport too.  Same for the rest of the family.  Matching stamps on all.  Not sure if you need to do that but something to think about.