Super complicated IR1 Visa Situation- Questions!

[cherry402 2]

Ok so some context, This will be a long post.

 

I am a U.S citizen previously living in North Carolina, I met my now wife on an online dating app and after a few months of talking went to Canada to see her for the first time (She is Guyanese but living in Canada with her family). We continued talking and things got more serious and I wanted to see her again, she was visiting her home country Guyana so I decided to go there and meet her extended family. Was there for a week and then went back to the US and she actually stopped in the U.S with her family on their way back to Canada to meet other relatives that they have in Florida as well as to come see my family in NC. She and her family had a b2 tourist visa for the US. When they came to NC, I decided that I didn't want be apart from her anymore and asked for her hand (marriage). She and her family accepted and we had a small Muslim ceremony basically married islamicly and decided to have a courthouse legal American marriage a few months later as we were planning to do a real wedding ceremony down the road when I could afford it. (Never happened)

 

Time goes by and I know that I have to file for her to adjust status but she wants to visit her family 1 last time as they can't come back to the U.S for a while since they were waiting for their PR. So before we apply for adjusting status she goes back to Canada for a couple weeks and then comes back. (Problem 1). After shes back in the states after a few months I file for the I-485, I-130, etc... Everything is fine for a while and then she gets bad news that her grandma is in critical shape and she wants to go see her in Guyana. (Problem 2). I didn't know how bad her leaving was at the time but she ends up going to see her grandma in the middle of the application and I find out that this means she abandoned the I-485 and that we would have to start over from outside the U.S. At this point, she has no visa to Canada and no visa to the U.S because they won't let her back in since she tried to adjust status.

So she is essentially stuck in Guyana with only extended family there, I decide I am gonna move to Guyana and stay with her until we can get back into the U.S. Our case ends up being in limbo for 3 years, it was scheduled for an interview in the U.S, which ofc she cant attend, so we miss it, no denial, gets rescheduled, miss, no denial, we keep trying to get the thing denied so we can reapply for I-130 from outside the US. Finally get a denial notice after 1 year of this, 1 week later, get a letter saying our case has been reopened, get thrown in limbo for another year with the case somehow going to the national records center and just not being closed. Finally get it withdrawn successfully, apply for the I-130, get it approved, and now waiting for the interview.

My concerns are this.

 

1.Even though our current petition is based on us being outside the U.S so no tourist visa's are involved. She did re-enter the country before knowing that she was gonna adjust status, this is proven by us being legally married at that point. Is this gonna be a problem at the interview? Our current petition has nothing to do with that instance so I don't know if it would still be considered visa fraud but you tell me what you think.

 

2. I now looking back, see that the immigration officer might believe that her first entry was also visa fraud as I asked for her hand in marriage days after her visit to the U.S even though she had no idea I was going to ask for her hand at that point. Do you guys think that will be a problem as well?
 

3. I have been living in Guyana with her for almost 3.5 years trying to get this thing figured out, we had 2 kids while being here and I have deep ties to the U.S so im hoping I can prove intent to re-establish domicile at the interview but I'm still worried they will give me trouble for being in Guyana all this time. Would do you guys think?

 

4. Also, I have been getting extension of stays while in Guyana to keep myself legal here, the problem is, Guyana is such a slow country that after applying for the extension of stay it can take a year for it to be approved, so there are 1 year stints where im technically illegal here. The government of Guyana itself doesn't care about that, I get approved eventually and I go back to legal status. At the time of interview I will be approved and have legal status but i'm wondering if the immigration officer will care about those periods of not having an active extension of stay granted. Will they not care as long as at the time of the interview I am of legal status in Guyana? I'm sure you guys won't know since this is so specific to this very different country but I thought I would ask anyway.

 

Sorry for the super long post, this has been weighing on me and I'd like to know if I am just being paranoid. Thanks for any help.

[Timona 4,207]

1, 2, 3, 4: Non issue. Take it easy. Enjoy your stay 

[Redro 4,611]

22 minutes ago, cherry402 said:

Ok so some context, This will be a long post.

 

I am a U.S citizen previously living in North Carolina, I met my now wife on an online dating app and after a few months of talking went to Canada to see her for the first time (She is Guyanese but living in Canada with her family). We continued talking and things got more serious and I wanted to see her again, she was visiting her home country Guyana so I decided to go there and meet her extended family. Was there for a week and then went back to the US and she actually stopped in the U.S with her family on their way back to Canada to meet other relatives that they have in Florida as well as to come see my family in NC. She and her family had a b2 tourist visa for the US. When they came to NC, I decided that I didn't want be apart from her anymore and asked for her hand (marriage). She and her family accepted and we had a small Muslim ceremony basically married islamicly and decided to have a courthouse legal American marriage a few months later as we were planning to do a real wedding ceremony down the road when I could afford it. (Never happened)

 

Time goes by and I know that I have to file for her to adjust status but she wants to visit her family 1 last time as they can't come back to the U.S for a while since they were waiting for their PR. So before we apply for adjusting status she goes back to Canada for a couple weeks and then comes back. (Problem 1). After shes back in the states after a few months I file for the I-485, I-130, etc... Everything is fine for a while and then she gets bad news that her grandma is in critical shape and she wants to go see her in Guyana. (Problem 2). I didn't know how bad her leaving was at the time but she ends up going to see her grandma in the middle of the application and I find out that this means she abandoned the I-485 and that we would have to start over from outside the U.S. At this point, she has no visa to Canada and no visa to the U.S because they won't let her back in since she tried to adjust status.

So she is essentially stuck in Guyana with only extended family there, I decide I am gonna move to Guyana and stay with her until we can get back into the U.S. Our case ends up being in limbo for 3 years, it was scheduled for an interview in the U.S, which ofc she cant attend, so we miss it, no denial, gets rescheduled, miss, no denial, we keep trying to get the thing denied so we can reapply for I-130 from outside the US. Finally get a denial notice after 1 year of this, 1 week later, get a letter saying our case has been reopened, get thrown in limbo for another year with the case somehow going to the national records center and just not being closed. Finally get it withdrawn successfully, apply for the I-130, get it approved, and now waiting for the interview.

My concerns are this.

 

1.Even though our current petition is based on us being outside the U.S so no tourist visa's are involved. She did re-enter the country before knowing that she was gonna adjust status, this is proven by us being legally married at that point. Is this gonna be a problem at the interview? Our current petition has nothing to do with that instance so I don't know if it would still be considered visa fraud but you tell me what you think.

 

2. I now looking back, see that the immigration officer might believe that her first entry was also visa fraud as I asked for her hand in marriage days after her visit to the U.S even though she had no idea I was going to ask for her hand at that point. Do you guys think that will be a problem as well?
 

3. I have been living in Guyana with her for almost 3.5 years trying to get this thing figured out, we had 2 kids while being here and I have deep ties to the U.S so im hoping I can prove intent to re-establish domicile at the interview but I'm still worried they will give me trouble for being in Guyana all this time. Would do you guys think?

 

4. Also, I have been getting extension of stays while in Guyana to keep myself legal here, the problem is, Guyana is such a slow country that after applying for the extension of stay it can take a year for it to be approved, so there are 1 year stints where im technically illegal here. The government of Guyana itself doesn't care about that, I get approved eventually and I go back to legal status. At the time of interview I will be approved and have legal status but i'm wondering if the immigration officer will care about those periods of not having an active extension of stay granted. Will they not care as long as at the time of the interview I am of legal status in Guyana? I'm sure you guys won't know since this is so specific to this very different country but I thought I would ask anyway.

 

Sorry for the super long post, this has been weighing on me and I'd like to know if I am just being paranoid. Thanks for any help.

Can you fill out your timeline, please?... and which stage of the I-130 are you at right now? NVC or have you been DQ'ed and waiting on interview?

1, 2, 4 are no problem. 

3. You just need to make sure you have a qualified joint sponsor for you wife if your current income won't continue after you move... I assume you filed CRBAs for your kids (so they have US passports). Having kids is also a great piece of evidence for intent to re-establish domicile. You can show you're preparing to enroll them in school... or kindergarten. 

[cherry402 2]

24 minutes ago, ROK2USA said:

Can you fill out your timeline, please?... and which stage of the I-130 are you at right now? NVC or have you been DQ'ed and waiting on interview?

1, 2, 4 are no problem. 

3. You just need to make sure you have a qualified joint sponsor for you wife if your current income won't continue after you move... I assume you filed CRBAs for your kids (so they have US passports). Having kids is also a great piece of evidence for intent to re-establish domicile. You can show you're preparing to enroll them in school... or kindergarten. 

My dad is joint sponsoring so no problem there, yes the kids already have US passports. I have just submitted my NVC docs a week ago so prob gonna be waiting another 2 months for them to review them but everything should be fine there. I will go ahead and fill out the timeline but I guess I will not include everything before applying for the new I-130 since itl make the whole timeline very complicated and weird.

[Redro 4,611]

Just now, cherry402 said:

My dad is joint sponsoring so no problem there, yes the kids already have US passports. I have just submitted my NVC docs a week ago so prob gonna be waiting another 2 months for them to review them but everything should be fine there. I will go ahead and fill out the timeline but I guess I will not include everything before applying for the new I-130 since itl make the whole timeline very complicated and weird.

Yep! You should be good to go then! 

The CO might ask why the first petition was withdrawn/ what happened with the adjustment but it probably won't be an issue. 

Hopefully someone from Guyana will come along and give their experience of the consulate. 

Some consulates are really strict about intent to re-establish domicile whilst others are fairly easy going. 

You can read reviews for Guyana here.

 

[Redro 4,611]

Oh! Another question @cherry402... did you upload evidence of intent to re-establish domicile to NVC?

Bank accounts, drivers license, credit cards, permanent mailing address? 

[cherry402 2]

Just now, ROK2USA said:

Oh! Another question @cherry402... did you upload evidence of intent to re-establish domicile to NVC?

Bank accounts, drivers license, credit cards, permanent mailing address? 

Yes, plenty!

2 credit cards I still have and use and pay off.

A joint bank account with me and my wife on it that is used regularly from buying things on amazon/netflix subscription, etc...

Mail that still comes to my family home in my name.

Active voter registration.

School records (I have been doing school online this whole time and got my bachelors and masters while abroad).

Maintained my drivers license.

Made a lease agreement with my dad for the house we are staying in.

Made an employment contract with my dad to work at his company until I find something in the field I got a degree in (Information Technology).

Have joint tax transcripts for the past 3 years with my wife.

Have only extensions of stay for Guyana, never tried to get any type of immigrant visa here, have no assets here, etc...

 

One thing I just realized, my wife during the first adjustment of status fiasco was given a social security card. I have been just using that number when doing tax returns and doing married filing jointly since I believed that would look good for immigration and the IRS website says that is ok. Is the CO gonna wonder why she has a U.S social security number while being a non-resident alien? I guess I could explain it pretty easily and I don't think they would frown upon me using her social for the tax returns as I'm pretty sure you are supposed to do that. It's just most people don't get in this situation so they simply don't have a social security number for their non-resident alien spouse.

[Redro 4,611]

2 minutes ago, cherry402 said:

Yes, plenty!

2 credit cards I still have and use and pay off.

A joint bank account with me and my wife on it that is used regularly from buying things on amazon/netflix subscription, etc...

Mail that still comes to my family home in my name.

Active voter registration.

School records (I have been doing school online this whole time and got my bachelors and masters while abroad).

Maintained my drivers license.

Made a lease agreement with my dad for the house we are staying in.

Made an employment contract with my dad to work at his company until I find something in the field I got a degree in (Information Technology).

Have joint tax transcripts for the past 3 years with my wife.

Have only extensions of stay for Guyana, never tried to get any type of immigrant visa here, have no assets here, etc...

 

One thing I just realized, my wife during the first adjustment of status fiasco was given a social security card. I have been just using that number when doing tax returns and doing married filing jointly since I believed that would look good for immigration and the IRS website says that is ok. Is the CO gonna wonder why she has a U.S social security number while being a non-resident alien? I guess I could explain it pretty easily and I don't think they would frown upon me using her social for the tax returns as I'm pretty sure you are supposed to do that. It's just most people don't get in this situation so they simply don't have a social security number for their non-resident alien spouse.

If you've been filing MFJ make sure you upload your W2s/1099s even if you uploaded your transcripts (not the actual tax returns). 

People have been receiving RFE's at NVC for that reason. 

If you don't have any W2s/1099s write a statement explaining why. 

Your dad should also upload his W2s/1099s if he files jointly with someone... 

Don't worry about the SSN issue. I know a few people who file MFJ with ITINs or SSNs when both USC/foreign national live abroad. 

It is not that uncommon for the foreign national to have an SSN if they studied in the US or if they had residency but decide to move back home and abandon the GC. 

 

I won't say it with 100% confidence (cos no one knows) but I don't think you'll have any issues when your wife gets to the interview. Your case sounds solid and you have some great evidence! 

[cherry402 2]

Just now, ROK2USA said:

If you've been filing MFJ make sure you upload your W2s/1099s even if you uploaded your transcripts (not the actual tax returns). 

People have been receiving RFE's at NVC for that reason. 

If you don't have any W2s/1099s write a statement explaining why. 

Your dad should also upload his W2s/1099s if he files jointly with someone... 

Don't worry about the SSN issue. I know a few people who file MFJ with ITINs or SSNs when both USC/foreign national live abroad. 

It is not that uncommon for the foreign national to have an SSN if they studied in the US or if they had residency but decide to move back home and abandon the GC. 

 

I won't say it with 100% confidence (cos no one knows) but I don't think you'll have any issues when your wife gets to the interview. Your case sounds solid and you have some great evidence! 

My only income has been from 1098-T from school grant/loans so thats what I included, I am unemployed other than being a student (dad sends money every month as long as I am in school lol).

My dad does head of household and is self-employed so no W2's or 1099's I don't think it will be a problem cuz it says that only matters if its married filing jointly. I guess I should have included a statement with his saying that but its too late now and I guess I'll just hope for the best.

[JeanneAdil 6,491]

for the 2nd stage of the process,  she'll need the Canadian criminal report if she lived there for 6 months from the government site

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-5-collect-financial-evidence-and-other-supporting-documents/step-7-collect-civil-documents.html

 

Are 16 years old or older	Have lived in your country of current residence (if different from nationality) for more than 6 months	Your country of current residence

[cherry402 2]

3 hours ago, JeanneAdil said:

for the 2nd stage of the process,  she'll need the Canadian criminal report if she lived there for 6 months from the government site

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-5-collect-financial-evidence-and-other-supporting-documents/step-7-collect-civil-documents.html

 

Are 16 years old or older	Have lived in your country of current residence (if different from nationality) for more than 6 months	Your country of current residence

Already got that and turned in with everything else. Thanks for looking out though!

[JeanneAdil 6,491]

I hope u kept the original as it will be needed at interview

copy will be sent to NVC for 2nd stage of this I 130 petition

BTW Islamic ceremony for marriage is legal and should have been registered by IMAM

[cherry402 2]

4 hours ago, JeanneAdil said:

I hope u kept the original as it will be needed at interview

copy will be sent to NVC for 2nd stage of this I 130 petition

BTW Islamic ceremony for marriage is legal and should have been registered by IMAM

We have all the originals but for the islamic marriage we ended up not getting the marriage legally registered using the Imam at that time, we also lost all the pictures from that little ceremony (lost my wife's external hard drive). But we do have plenty of pictures of us together with both of our families and pictures of the marriage at the courthouse a few months later. Hope that is good enough!

[Cathi 5,746]

4 hours ago, JeanneAdil said:

I hope u kept the original as it will be needed at interview

copy will be sent to NVC for 2nd stage of this I 130 petition

BTW Islamic ceremony for marriage is legal and should have been registered by IMAM

My thoughts exactly. The actual day they were married was the day they were married Islamically. 

[African Zealot 1,455]

Yes on the surface a complicated case but upon breaking it down, I see no problem at all. I am assuming she was never out of status in the USA and if she was, not more than a few months.

 

Best wishes.