US Immigration from Bulgaria

Hi all , my fianc and I are getting married in September, and we've just started preparing our documents to apply for his marriage-based green card. I am a US citizen and he is a Bulgarian citizen. He did two separate J-1 visa summers of work in the US in 2016 and 2017. Both visas on their face say very clearly that he is not subject to the two year home country requirement, and he additionally has the DS-2019 from his 2017 J-1 visa which confirms that he is not subject to the requirement. I just want to make 100% sure here that this will suffice to show USCIS that he is not subject to the requirement - there's no reason for us to obtain a No Objection letter from the Bulgarian government too, right?

Another issue is that he no longer has the DS-2019 from his 2016 J-1 visa, even though he does have the one from 2017. We have contacted his J-1 sponsor to see if they still have a copy, but as it was six years ago I'm not hopeful. Will not having the DS-2019 form from his first J-1 visa be a problem, or will USCIS overlook that given that the 2016 visa on its face, which we do have a copy of, clearly says he is not subject to the two year requirement?

Final question: he renewed his passport last year and the Bulgarian consulate took his old expired passport, which had the original J-1 visas in it. Luckily he took scans of the J-1 pages before he gave it in, but we just noticed there are watermarks from the scanning app at the bottom which can no longer be removed. They don't obscure any vital information, just a bit of the visa number at the very bottom of the visa. Will this be ok? Since we don't have the old passport anymore we unfortunately can't take a new photo of the visas. Relatedly, is he required to submit pictures of the info pages of the passport he entered the US on, by any chance? He never took a photo of the old passport's info page. Hoping that isn't necessary.

Thanks! Sorry for all the questions, just want to make sure we get this right the first time.

Hello everyone!

I just found this forum and I'm very thankful for that!

I'm Bulgarian born and last September I got my US citizenship.

My wife and I have been married for about 3 years now and have dated for about 6. Throughout this time, she lived in Bulgaria, and I lived in the US. She's visited me a bunch of times for a couple of months at a time on a tourist visa, and I have traveled home to spend some time together as well. I have the i130 all filled out and ready with all the paperwork needed. However, I have the feeling we're a little shy on proof of marriage, as we haven't really lived together, aside from our visits to each other. We do not own anything in both of our names and our finances are not combined, as she uses Bulgarian banks and I - American. We don't have children either. So that pretty much leaves us with pictures from over the years, maybe screenshots of posts on social media in the past and third-party affidavits.

I'd really love to hear some advice from people that have recently gone through this process and any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Best, Stiliyan

Edit: I forgot to mention that I'm filing for the case to be resolved in the embassy in Bulgaria. I have also selected that we haven't lived together, as from what I found, living together per USCIS is 6 months+ .

Does anyone know what USCIS is actively reviewing your case actually mean?

I m just curious because some people are still waiting MONTHS even after an active review.

Background: I am a US citizen. My husband and I have lived together in Europe for the last 5 years. We are still in Europe.

Question:

On the DS-260 it asks my husband: Do you have an address in the United States where you intend to live?

We will move to the US together once he is approved. We will get an apartment once he is approved. We think it's crazy to do it before they've even approved his visa (I do understand that it will be easier). If he answers "NO" to this question, should we write an explanation? Do you think it will look "weird" to the person checking the application? Or should I ask a friend to use their address? We don't have family there.

If you've gone through a similar situation, I'd love to hear your advice. Thank you!

Hi! We are currently USCIS approval. But I am preparing all the documents for NVC stage so I have everything ready. But I do have a question about spousal support/I864.

Background: I've lived abroad with my husband for the past 4.5 years. I've been self-employed working with US clients remotely. I have a tax accountant and filed/paid all of my taxes. We claimed foreign inclusion income deduction because I wasn't in the US at all. I did make above the poverty level but I know that NVC doesn't accept income that's been claimed under foreign earned income (even tho it will continue once I move to the US).

Anyway - I started working a job with a US company in February 2022 which pays well above the poverty level. I have employee verification letter and paystubs. Combined with my self employment income (which will continue but they might not count) I should make over 100k for 2022.

Finally, the question: Do you think they will make me get a sponsor just because my taxes from last year have the "foreign earned income" deduction?