US Immigration from Australia

Hi! I first joined up here about 12 years ago

I was a naive, enthusiastic future resident of the USA who had just married my US-born husband and needed to Adjust my status. Although I knew my husband had an offense from 20 years ago, I had no clue that the USA gave a damn about the criminal history of the petitioner!

To make a long, tear-filled story easier here is the outline

2012 - married US Citizen from tourist visa

2013 - First application for AOS by marriage - with attorney but not one with AWA experience

2013 - First NOID - Got Psych report and as much evidence as possible sent off

2015 - Denied

2015 - Reapply for AOS - same attorney but we are better versed this time

2016 - NOID - new reports, fresh proof

2017 - Denied

2017 - Reapply 3rd time - yet more info provided

2018 - NOID - 3RD Psych assessment, at $3000 a pop

2021 - Denied

2021 - Reapply BUT with a change - we switch application from my husband as a sponsor to my eldest step-son and suddenly, no issues

2021 - RFE for Medical Exam only!
2024 Jan 13 - email from attorney to say we have finally been APPROVED

WHAT I HAVE LEARNED THAT MAY HELP OTHERS WITH AWA ISSUES

1. Get an attorney WHO KNOWS THE AWA, not just any migration attorney. We had a wonderful, kind, generous attorney, but this was in no way her field of experience.

2. Be prepared to pay a lot of money, not just for your attorney but also for the reports, copies of offenses, parole decisions, probation records etc. You will need copies of everything. Fresh Psych reports will almost always be needed and they aren't cheap.

3. Despite all your efforts and money, the odds are you will not win. Our choice, if my stepson had not wanted to help, would have been to take it to court in front of a judge and plead for common sense to prevail.

4. If you have any alternative method of filing that does not involve the person with the conviction being used then take that option like I did. I know this is not available to everyone, but some of you may benefit from this suggestion.

5. All in all, I think this cost 12 years, $30,000 US or near enough, nearly caused us to divorce several times due to all the stress, and interfered with my right to work and hold a driver's license. I've been too scared to leave for 12 years to visit my home or parents in case I could not get back into the USA.

6. If you can find any other way to apply, sponsored by a stepchild in my case, or try employment-based immigration, etc, I'd say try anything before having to try beating the AWA.

7. I am open to private messages from others who just need moral support or someone to listen to, but I can't offer legal or immigration advice more than I have said above.

I stupidly submitted our CR1 application without including any photos or evidence of our relationship apart from our marriage certificate and 4 affidavits from family members who were at the wedding. Is this going to automatically make them not approve it? Or will the certificate and affidavits be enough? Is there any way to add things to the application?

Dear all,

At the interview, I was given a green 221g because my medical report wasn't ready. I subsequently mailed in my passports and information sheet, and the status on CEAC became Ready on Nov 28th and it has been so since. How long will it take for it to progress to the next stage? I would love to hear about your experience ideally with Sydney Consulate.

Thank you!

Greetings all,

Had my interview 14th Nov. the process at the Sydney Consulate was smooth and friendly, the Visa Officer conducting the interview was authentically nice and made the entire experience pleasant. I was in and out in less than an hour. The frustration with the 'process' is almost always when you need to communicate with the Consulate outside the interview day - when you are there in front of them they could not be more polite, helpful and interested to help.

Wishing everyone good luck where ever you are in the process.

Hi

I was an Indian citizen but I surrendered my Indian citizenship and got Australian citizenship now. My wife is a US citizen. She applied my partner visa. Now the process is at NVC. I uploaded all the required documents along with Indian Police check. Today I got a mail from NVC about rejection of my Indian PCC. When I checked in document finder tab it says that PCC must have a photograph but the one which I got from Indian authority doesn't have. I called the issuing authority and they said we don't attach photographs on PCC as foreign national. Please advise me what should I do? If someone else went through this please reply.

Thank you