US Immigration from South Korea

Hello,

In response to our RFE, we submitted a PDF starting with a cover letter that lists all the documents. We had originally submitted 2020 tax return transcript which was flagged INVALID and this PDF replaces that. The RFE specifically asked for 2021 Wage and Income Transcript, which we added. We felt that that was not enough and since our joint sponsor's Tax Return Transcript is not available yet, we decided to also add on Federal Tax Returns also and also an updated I864 matching the 2021 numbers. The cover letter explains this all. This PDF was submitted under "Tax Return or Transcript" in required documents, replacing the original 2020 tax return transcript that was flagged invalid.

But I read in another thread that if a document gets submitted under an incorrect heading, you may get an RFE asking for the same document. In our case, all the other stuff was uploaded under the correct heading except for the updated I864. Will it matter down the road? The cover letter clearly mentions it, but perhaps we should add as additional docs again a duplicate of the updated I864?

Note that our original I864 submission was, despite the fact that the numbers were taken from the year 2020, "ACCEPTED".

Thanks.

Hello everyone,

My wife (sponsor) and I (sponsoree) filed for the marriage based green card earlier this year. The issue is she is unemployed and I am the sole provider (H1-B status) for our income. When we filed for the I-864 we had put my income in as the support for our household. We got an RFE yesterday stating that there were one or more deficiencies and I was not sure if it's because I had submitted my paystub and W2. Or if it's not possible for me to provide income because I am the one being sponsored. Does she need a cosponsor in this case, like a family member or friend? Just wanted some clarification before I send in another I-864 with the supporting documents.

Here is our RFE

When they say one or more deficiencies, does it mean there was a typo or was there something actually lacking?

I'm considering accepting a job offer outside the United States. It's a permanent role. We are Sept 2021 ROC filers. If I accept the role, I'm thinking the company may ask us to move there by November 2022.

So the question is, how long can we stay outside the United States? I can, of course, ask relatives to keep checking my mail so that we can get any documentation they send us. If there's a specific date we need to show up by, we can fly back for that date.

Hello all, I am trying to collect all the common reasons for getting an rfe at NVC stage. Below, I summarize what I have found so far:

(reasons <- possible preventative measures)

1. Financial Evidence

- signature/date on AOS/I-864 <- make sure the signatures and dates are handwritten with black ink and scanned properly.

- W2/1099 missing or numbers do not match <- Be sure to provide all W2 and 1099 available. If missing, include an explanation. Also submit IRS tax return transcript alongside. Be sure that all the numbers match exactly on the AOS.

- I864A is missing when a married sponsor's tax was filed jointly (issue when it is unclear whether the individual's single income alone can cover the support amount)

- Petitioner has no W2/1099 for not living/working in the US <- Be sure to include a signed/dated letter of explanation. Do not just provide a foreign tax form without any explanation.

2. Civil Documents

- Police certificate missing/incorrect format <- make sure to check out the reciprocity table on the Dept of State website. Also make sure the form is correct with others who went through similar processes involving police certificates from the same country. Make sure you have an up-to-date information as the reciprocity table can change abruptly without notice. Make sure the police certificate is not over 6 months old (NVC takes 3 months to process as of now and if it is older than 6 months, by the time you respond to an rfe your police certificate will be out of date).

- Foreign police certificate <- Be sure to provide a police certificate from every country you stayed for over 6 months. Sometimes NVC asks for police certificates from countries you stayed for less than 6 months. If you cannot get a police certificate from a faraway country you temporarily stayed, be sure to include a letter of explanation clearly stating how long you stayed there. It is a good idea to get a police certificate if possible (but it takes a few months for many countries and may be difficult to get one overseas).

- Birth Certificate <- Again country specific. For example, for a Korean national you need the Basic Certificate + Certificate of Family Relations, both "detailed". Regardless of your nationality, all documents must include certified translations (in a single PDF) which is not over 1 year old. A very common rfe I saw was translators leaving out a mostly blank second page. The translation must also include the second page even if it is blank with just a page number at the bottom.

3. Petitioner Domicile Issue

- Your petitioner (and of course any joint sponsor) must provide proof of US domicile status. It is very common for a petitioner to be residing abroad with their spouse (applicant), in which case a letter of intent to (re-)establish US domicile status must also be submitted along with as much evidence as possible of the petitioner having maintained US domicile status (voting record, driver license, evidence of filing taxes, bank certificates based in the US, home address, letters addressed to the petitioner, US insurance information, phone bills, etc). Some petitioners end up moving to the US beforehand for this very reason - others sign a lease (some with their extended family members) on a basement or cottage house.

4. Scan/Document Quality Issue

- Scan blurry/illegible <- make sure your scan is legible and clear

- Document cropped <- I've seen people getting rfe for submitting a document that was improperly cropped and the decimal digits were cut off in the dollar amount (1900. instead of 1900.00 for example). This is a very dumb rfe to have.

- Passport Scan <- be sure it is color scan showing the full 2 pages. It cannot just show your bio page like a card.

5. No reason/NVC mistake

- Surprisingly common: even when you do everything right, sometimes NVC requests the same document you already submitted and flags it missing for no apparent reason.

Can you think of/remember other issues people faced at this stage? It is critical for a lot of us to get DQ'ed on the first try to avoid unnecessary delays (pending obligations, pregnancy, kids school, etc). Thanks.