US Immigration from Australia

Hi all,

I have my interview next week and I am wondering if there is a law that states that US spouse visa interview MUST be conducted in person rather than an alternative, like zoom? Or perhaps, a different consulate (In Melbourne?)

Is there a US federal regulation or Act I can refer to? Would anyone know where to find such rule

Thanks!

Any Australians in Northern California or west nevada (Reno area) ? Would be cool for my husband to meet some future Australian friends.

Hi,

Thought I would start this thread for those who are now able to book in appointments at Sydney embassy. If you have been able to, could you please put down the earliest date that you have been able to book in with? Just to give everyone an idea of how big the backlog is/ expected timeline.

Thanks

Hi team,

Been working on AOS application for quite some time now. I have been reading and doing my research. We have been waiting to see/hear about the approval statuses from the initial February/March I-944 guinea pigs, but that has yet to happen. So, I get that no one really has definitive answers yet. I've been going through monthly AOS filer threads and everyone just seems to have conflicting answers or opinions about certain topics that I'm in question with. I'm looking for some advice with the following on form I-944:

1) Part 3 question 1 - Household income- For my husband who is adjusting and filling out i944:

Like most people on here with a similar timeline as us, he has yet to file a US tax return because he just got here. We ticked "not required to file a tax return" and explained that he has no US work history and entered recently on K1. We are providing his Australian tax return. My question is, for HIS total income on tax return , am I putting ZERO? Or should I put what I, the US citizen, made for 2019? (the wording "self OR household member" confuses me)

2) Part 3 question 9 - Household assets

From my understanding, if you are above 125% poverty line, you do not need to include assets. The example I-944 form on VJ states their income is 75K (well above poverty line), yet they included assets. This confuses me. Do I need to include assets if we are above 125%?

3) Health Insurance

My husband does not have an SSN yet because we couldn't find an office during COVID that would deal with him obtaining one. His I-94 is now expired. I am finding it difficult searching for health insurance without an SSN. Am I missing something? He has travel insurance with Cover More until March 2021. Is the travel insurance okay to mark "yes" on the I-944 for having health insurance for now until he obtains an SSN and can get traditional health insurance? I don't even know if this is considered health insurance, my guess is no because it has the word "travel" and not "health". He is not able to be added to my plan as I have a unique Native American plan. I'm not familiar at all with traditional insurance plans or how it all works. I've checked Marketplace. Can you get health insurance without an SSN? Is his travel insurance okay until he obtains an SSN? I'm scared to tick "no" for health insurance as that might look bad on his application.

4) Part 4 - Your Education and Skills

My husband does not have a college degree. He has an Australian equivalency of a high school Diploma. He also has 2 trade profession certifications.

Page 11 of I-944 directions state:

"Foreign education should include an evaluation of equivalency to education or degrees acquired at accredited colleges, universities, or educational institutions in the United States."

Does he need to get an evaluation of equivalency for his HS diploma and 2 trade profession certificates? Some people say you do for high school and certificates, some people say you do not. It would be great to not have to pay for that if we didn't have to.

Any insight is helpful,

Thank you.