Tourist Visa Marriage

[WilliamGuy 0]

Hey folks!

I am a U.S. citizen and married my wife who came here on a Tourist visa after about 60 days of her entry into the U.S. We filed an AOS through my lawyer for the greencard, work authorization, and so advance parole. I was just wondering if anyone knows how long it takes to get the interview and someone who has a similar circumstance iin the current timeframe would be greatly appreciate it. We filed in the beg. of May and got our notices in late May 2008. Any other advice and tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

[Matt and Sarah 0]

AOS on a tourist visa? And you have received NOA's from your filing? Are you saying that she is still here in the US and you are filing for an AOS to her Tourist visa? We need more info/timeline from you. I'm no K-2/K-3 expert since we filed for K-1 and got married here, but this can be really risky...please read the Guides where it talks about adjusting status after you are married and both remain in the US:

You must qualify to file for an I-130 in the US. Not everyone does, and in some cases doing so can be considered fraud and result in being deported and banned from re-entry into the US for a period of time. If you attempt to file and you do not qualify your legal status in the US can be placed in jeopardy. J1 Visa holders will almost always require a waiver and should consult with an immigration lawyer or the USCIS for more information. If you have any doubt, consult an immigration attorney.

If your fiance/fiancee came to the US on a tourist visa with the intent of immigration and marriage, and you are not yet married, then he/she should return to his/her home abroad, and the K-1 visa should be filed (using an I-129f) instead of the I-130 to avoid a denial, deportation, or even being banned from re-entry to the US.

If you are already married, and your spouse came to the US on a tourist visa with the intent of immigration and marriage, then he/she should return to his/her home abroad, and the I-130 (or along with an I-129f for a K-3 Visa) should be filed with the relative outside of the U.S. to avoid denial, deportation, or even being banned from re-entry to the US.

The above conditions are serious and can result in the separation of families for many years if not taken serious

Edited July 9, 2008 by Matt and Sarah

[WilliamGuy 0]

I'm just making the adjustment to her status from a tourist visa to an immigrant visa. Yes we have received her NOA's. We had NO intention of getting married before she came here, she was actually introduced to me through a family friend. I want to know if someone had any similar experiences.

Edited July 9, 2008 by WilliamGuy

[Tom_Jim 40]

No need to panic. If she didn't intend to come solely to marry you on her tourist visa, you may adjust status. It appears you've already engaged a lawyer, so that's good as he'll take care of the necessary documents. Depending on your district office, the average time between filing and receiving your permanent residency card is 1-year.

[EstebanTrabajos 7]

No need to panic. If she didn't intend to come solely to marry you on her tourist visa, you may adjust status. It appears you've already engaged a lawyer, so that's good as he'll take care of the necessary documents. Depending on your district office, the average time between filing and receiving your permanent residency card is 1-year.

I thought the average time was 6 months, anyway yes you can adjust status, no doubt about that. Good Luck!

[proud_armywife24 0]

Hi WilliamGuy,

Eventhough I filed my AOS late March...I did came on a B2, met my husband got married a year later n file to adjust my status...if you check out my signature you can have an understanding of the timeline n how long it takes.I've received my Interview Letter exactly 4 months after we filed n I estimated another 1 month if approved to recieve my GC so all together the average filing is 6-9 months,some less, some more, as I said all cases are different! my thoughts to you is gather all the imperative documents to prove to USCIS that ur wife had no intent to immigrate on a visitors visa as her intent may or may not be question at the interview so always be prepared.....My interview in on the 29th so I will keep you abreast!!

P.S you mentioned that u hired a Lawyer.. We did our paperwork all by ourselves...no lawyer!

Hope this helps...n good luck to you on ur journey !!

[WilliamGuy 0]

Thanks for all the info - I really appreciate it. You got your Biometric appointment so fast. I haven't got a notice for mine at all.

[Lil Miss Sunshine 14]

hi.. i also came here on a tourist visa and adjusted status from that after getting married.. please refer to my signature.

we also didn't hire a lawyer. we just refered to the guidelines provided by VJ and everything went ok.

good luck to you

[bluegreen 0]

me too - timeline below:) 4.5 months from filing-approval.

[devhijhay 0]

me too - timeline below:) 4.5 months from filing-approval.

wow, your processing went really fast! I hope mine would too. I came on a B-2 Visa to visit last Feb and ended getting married just this month!

USPS just emailed me that they delivered my I-130 and I485 package to Chicago Lockbox this morning.

[sweetpiano 0]

Check out my timeline, I"m adjusting from a B1/B2 as well. The RFE slowed me down a month. Still waiting...

Best of luck to you!

[Maty 0]

Check out my timeline, I"m adjusting from a B1/B2 as well. The RFE slowed me down a month. Still waiting...

Best of luck to you!

Hi,

if you dont mind me asking. You got an RFE for what?

Thanks.

[sweetpiano 0]

The RFE was related to the evidence we submitted for the I-864. My husband and I worked abroad last year, and even though we submitted tax returns to the IRS for 2007, it was based on foreign earned income, and naturally we did not have any W-2's. The USCIS did not bother to look closely at our tax return, they automatically RFE'd us for W-2's. Anyway we sent them the foreign equivalents of W-2. Hopefully this will be good enough.

The other thing they RFE'd was more evidence of my husband's income. Initially we sent an official employment form (not a letter) from his job (which specified income), but it was too complicated for USCIS to decipher, so they asked for an employment letter. Here it was our mistake, we totally forgot about the employment letter my husband received by email over 8 months ago, it was sitting somewhere in our computer and we totally forgot about it. So we sent them that. Plus they wanted 6 months of paystubs - my husband started this job in February 2008, so initially we only sent 2 paystubs. You can see from my signature that we waited until the end of May to respond to the RFE in order to accumulate more paystubs, we sent a total of four, the initial 2, plus two more. Hope this is good, otherwise they'll have to keep RFE'ing us for more paystubs.

So in all it was a combination of our mistake (we forgot that we had the employment letter) and their incompetence? lack of willingness? to look closer into the details of our case and realize we don't have any W-2 for foreign income and that we don't have 6 months worth of paystubs, since the job only started in February (which was clearly stated in the G-325A).

My lesson from the RFE is that it's important to read between the lines to understand what they want, because sometimes their RFE letters can be contradictory. Here's an example from mine:

"The sponsor's income on the tax return does not meet or exceed 125% of the poverty guideline. The sponsor lists their current income on Form I-865 as an amount to be considered as sufficient; however no evidence has been submitted as proof of current income."

The two sentences contradict themselves. My husband's income exceeds the poverty guidelines, so we just ignored the first sentence and answered the request in the second sentence.

Thanks for reading my rant. Here's a couple of files, hope you find them useful.

How_to_prepare_RFE_response.pdf

10_Pitfalls_to_avoid_doing_Affidavit_of_Support.doc

[devhijhay 0]

The two sentences contradict themselves. My husband's income exceeds the poverty guidelines, so we just ignored the first sentence and answered the request in the second sentence.

I agree when you say confusing! Paranoia kicks in from the time you start reading the instructions! My I-94 grants me to stay until mid-August so people were telling me to just send everything I have right away.

I'm still confused on one's legality to stay after you submit these things. Can anyone clarify that?

Thanks!

Edited July 20, 2008 by devhijhay

[sweetpiano 0]

I'm still confused on one's legality to stay after you submit these things. Can anyone clarify that?

After you submit the AOS and petition package, you should receive receipts from USCIS for each form you sent, they are called "Notice of Action" and they are the proof of your status in the US after your I-94 expires. Your status will be called "pending Adjustment of Status" and you can stay in the US legally until a decision has been made in your case.