US Immigration from Chile

Hello! This is my first post on the forum. Thanks for any guidance!

I filed the i130 petition for my husband (Chile) in March 2022. We both live in Chile, but I have been offered a job in the US that is uniquely suited to my experience (hard to find a position like this), starting in November.

Question 1: If I go ahead with our 4-year-old son to take the job in the US while my husband works in Chile and waits for his visa here, we will go into debt every month, as the new job will not pay very much. On the other hand, I don't want to lose this job opportunity. Could this grounds for expedite due to financial hardship? I have already prepared budget examples, have the job offer letter, and a letter from the employer explaining why they need my particular skills/experience. I figure it's worth a try!

Question 2: I called USCIS about the expedite request, and they informed me that they cannot consider it right now because my mailing address on the i130 is my Chile address, not US-based. They informed me that I would need to change the address, and it can only be done via snail-mail to the Texas Service Center! Has anyone else changed their address and had any luck?

Finally, could I work with our embassy in Chile in any way?

I'm at the point where I'm just thinking about hiring a lawyer to handle the expedite request and the next steps. However, thought I'd reach out here first to see what you all thought!

Hello community

I have several questions regarding this visa. Unfortunately, is a specific visa only available for Chilean and Singapore citizens, and not so many lawyers know about the visa.

I already got my visa approved. But the processing time took so long, that my employer decide to hire someone else to take my position in the company 2 days before my visa was granted.

My questions are the following:

1.- Can I travel to the US to sell my car, and close my bank account using this visa without working inside the US? (Apply for the ESTA is impossible, as I got refusal twice last year) (Apply for a B1 visa is impossible at this time, as the nearest appointment for B1 in my country is Dec 2024)

2.- Can this visa be transferred to a new employer? UCSI website said yes, but how long the process would take?

3.- Do the new employer will need to submit an LCA?

4.- What document will I need to submit in order to transfer my H-1B1 to a new employer?

5.- What would happen if the employer who backed up the petition of my H-1B1 does not submit the I-9? I am allowed to submit the I-9 form myself?

Hoping someone can give some recent feedback about this visa and the options I currently have.

Many thanks in advance!

Cheers!
Jota

Hi everyone, my fianc and I are getting married this tuesday and I decided that I'll be taking his last name. Today I've been thinking a lot about, specially about the problems that might bring me in my country. I'm from Chile, I have a business degree, I'm still working with a contract with a company from Chile and I bought an apartment with my actual name, I'm worried that this change might be an issue. Someone has had a similar case? The last name change applies to other countries?

Thank you!

Hello mr. @pushbrk , we come in search of wisdom about the same stage, Affidavit of Support. We're applying for spousal CR-1 visa, the sponsor lives in Chile since 2019 with the beneficiary.

So, basically our question is, in I-864 form, Page 5, Part 6, item 23b. The sponsor (she) is living with the beneficiary and working in Chile, thus making no income in the USA. She had 2019 tax return filed (with around 1000 USD annual income) and 2020 tax return filed with 0 USD income. 2021 was not filed (again, 0 income).

So, if she's missing only 2021 tax return:

- Should we just not check item 23b., check "No" on 23a, and check item box 25?

- Should we still attach these tax returns?

- If we check Item box 25, would her Chilean income and Chilean temporary visa be proof of not needing to file the last three years taxes? (that's exactly the time she has been living in Chile).

We already have household members that whose income will be used to meet the poverty guideline criteria. We're just not sure about the mentioned section of the I-864.

Thank you so much for your time!!

Hi, I wanted to share my recent experience when filing my I-485 to adjust status from K-1.

My (now) wife and I were living in Chile just before Covid happened. We were forced to be separated due to goverment lockdowns and general tyranny.

After obtaining my K-1, we got married in August 2021 and filed my I-485 in September 2021. We were very thorough with our Affidavit of Support, as my wife's 2020 tax returns were below the poverty line from having worked only half of the year in the US. We provided recent pay stubs, a signed official letter from her employer, showing that her income was about +40k/year.

In November 2021 I received a RFE, they rejected her as a sponsor for earning below the poverty line.

Following many issues, we failed to get a joint sponsor for many months. Finally, we found a very generous new friend who volunteered and agreed to sponsor us. We sent our paperwork at the end of March 2022.

Four days after submitting our RFE response with a joint sponsor, I saw the following message in my USCIS online account: "We have cancelled the request for additional evidence for your Form I-485, Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status." Shortly after, our interview was scheduled.

During the interview, which went very well, the officer approved us on the spot. I seized the opportunity and showed him the online account screenshot, and he went ahead and checked our case through their internal system.

He confirmed my suspicions: The RFE was entirely disregarded, our original I-864 Affidavit of support, filed with the I485 package, was the one that was approved. I know this because he read: "Affidavit was approved from paystubs". We did not submit pay stubs from our joint sponsor as he is a business owner and did not have any.

There you go, the rusty gears of government bureaucrats are very... interesting. Attached is my case history from USCIS online.