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This morning my wife had her CR1 interview in Manila and she was told specifically by interviewing officer that:

Petitioner needs to have enough financially to support

Joint sponsor not acceptable because they are retired

Here is a quick overview of case details

30 year old petitioner currently unemployed but has individual brokerage account valued at $85,000 at time of interview

71 year old father as joint sponsor and 68 year old mother as household member of father, current income (going by their combined social security benefits as well as pension) of $64,000, which is decently above the minimum needed for household of 3.

My wife then was explained by a separate person before leaving about the 221G and was told the proof of domicile is about letter of intention to work and support wife. I am somewhat concerned that there is a disconnect on the specific reasoning from the interviewing officer and how that other person explained the letter to my wife. My wife felt stonewalled at the interview as she tried to show financial documents. The interviewing officer even asked who these two names were (implying that they didn't go over the overall evidence and joint sponsors i864 and i864a?).

From what I understood learning about this process, the petitioner being unemployed is not a problem as long as they have a joint sponsor and or assets that meet requirements. And I also had the understanding that social security and being retired for the joint sponsor is not a problem.

I had sideloaded to ceac a lot of evidence a week before with updated statements,and my wife had it all ready for the officer to look in person as well. They have petitioner brokerage full statement from a year ago, 6 months ago, and then the latest month as well as current balance letter a week before interview date. Current social security benefits letter were uploaded for the joint sponsor parents of the petitioner. I also had included proof of domicile (as petitioner has been in manila for almost a year now on temporary stay visiting wife and supporting her through process while waiting) with a detailed letter of intention for myself as well as my parents that is notarized that they are close with their son and allow petitioner and the beneficiary to live with them at their primary owned home as well as the secondary owned home if desired. They have petitioner valid state ID, and local bank account statement. They also have joint sponsor birth certificates and proof of domicile. Also two pdfs with extensive relationship evidence showing family pictures and the extended stay.

I have considered contacting the embassy using this page: https://ph.usembassy.gov/contact-us-visas/ in an attempt to clarify my case situation as my opinion is that the officer didn't really consider the totality of the situation as well as closely look at the documents and perhaps going by incorrect guidelines unless I am entirely mistaken on the retirement thing being a new problem for the joint sponsor. And I would also add that I believe petitioner asset amount is very close to the needed three times amount of minimum. At the very least it's close and it's not like the petitioner has nothing or plans to live in a big city.

Check out the 221g itself and give comments to provide insight. Is it possible to have a second look at this from a different officer who would hopefully go over the full evidence more closely? Do people view this also as the only option is that the petition needs to work immediately? Obviously if they toss aside the joint sponsor then it is understandable that even with that amount of assets it's not a particularly large amount over the guideline amount.. though it's obviously better than an unemployed petitioner who has close to nothing as well as not a close relationship to her parents and no reliable home. I would have thought the totality of the situation would have been enough here compared to plenty of other cases.

Thanks all.

Hi,

Recently we received the message that my 21-years-old nephew's ESTA application was denied no reason was given. The notification mentions "You are not authorized to travel to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program. You may be able to obtain a visa from the Department of State for your travel."

He has never been to the U.S. before and currently he is in a military pre-enlistment program in his country. He wanted to visit me together with his sibling (who has a visa and visited the U.S. 6 years ago) for about 2.5 weeks. I wrote my Congressman, but know that's a longshot. Is there even a point to apply for a tourist visa after an ESTA refusal?

Thanks,

V.

Hello, we are in the "Case Ready" stage of of NVC. I followed the instructions on the VN embassy website to register the address and complete the DS-160.

We paid for the Visa registration and registered the address on USTraveldocs but the website still says payment not received. Have you all completed this step and how did it go? Are we supposed to receive Packet 3 in the mail or via email?

Hi all,

My wife is a Canadian citizen living in Edmonton and I'm a US citizen. We're doing the IR1/CR1 visa and now on the step of submitting the civil documents to the CEAC website and we're a bit confused about the whole Police Certificate and how to obtain it.

We initially called the RCMP to ask them about getting one for the visa but they said that since she's from Alberta that she had to go through the local police to obtain it and to call them. The only thing we could get through to is their automated system which told us to submit the application online. However, the only thing we can request for is a Police Information Check which, from what we can see, it isn't accepted by the NVC. I've been searching through VJ for anything close to what we were told but couldn't find anything. I saw this website linked multiple times showing what the actual document looks like. Also found this through the RCMP about fingerprinting and accredited places to get the forms.

I saw this in another post:

Quote

Document Name: Certified Criminal Record Check Type of Criminal Record Check for Personal Use (*formerly known as Privacy Act)

Sub-type: Other (Provide Details)

Details of Information sought: RCMP National Repository Entire Holdings

The following documents WILL NOT be accepted:

• Type of Criminal Record Check for Personal Use: Visa-Border Crossing, Foreign Travel, Work document.
• Type of Criminal Record Check for Personal Use: Active Criminal Record document
  • Provincial or City issued police certificate

Issuing Authority: Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Special Seal(s) / Color / Format: The requested document is fingerprint-based, but the report does not include an image of the applicant or the applicant s fingerprints. Examples of Canadian Police Certificates can be found at U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Canada (usembassy.gov).

Where do we actually have to go to get our correct Police Certificate? Did they feed us the wrong info when we called them?

Need assistance filing my I-485 and EAD for GreenCard - USA

My priority date of 2013 is currently under the EB-2 category. My new employer filed my PERM application is approved.

My employer is planning to file my I-140 under regular processing.

I had a retail theft case (Class A misdemeanor) in 2014 ( it was a misunderstanding ). I completed five weeks of community service. The case was dismissed and expunged in 2015.

I will need assistance filing my I-485 and EAD.

Please let me know the following:

1. What process do we need to follow to file the I-485 and EAD?
2. What documents are required from my employer to file my I-485 and EAD?
3. Since my employer will file the I-140 and you will file the I-485, how will these two processes work together?
4. Other than this case, I have never had any legal issues. Based on my understanding, this matter falls under the petty offense exception. While I understand it must be disclosed only, do we also need to file a criminal waiver (Form I-601, 212(h) waiver of inadmissibility) with USCIS?
5. I will defiantly share all the details in my application, but what all complication might come and how to deal with this ?
6. Any specialist attorney can you recommend ?

What would be the best approach you would recommend in my current situation?