jan22

As everyone who responded here has said — there is nothing that can be done to make you eligible for a visa based on this petition. Again, it was dead the moment you got married. Without an approved, valid petition, you do not qualify for an immigrant visa.

Not at all possible. Even if you divorced your spouse, you wouldn’t qualify. The petition died the moment you got married. There is no legal way to resurrect it.

NVC has no authority to determine you no longer qualify for the visa (which you don’t). As long as you proceed with the case, pay the fees, and submit the documents, they will process your submissions and, ultimately, schedule the case for a visa interview at the Embassy — where it will then be denied, since you no longer qualify for a visa as an unmarried child of an LPR.. The baby’s case cannot be continued as a derivative — if the principal applicant doesn’t qualify, neither does the derivative.

If both parents were US citizens at the time the child was born, you will be filing under 301(c) of the INA (8 U.S.C. 1401(c)). Unlike other applications under sections of the law that require physical presence for a number of years, the 301(c) requirement is merely that at least one of the two US citizen parents resided in the US at any point prior to the birth of the child — for any length of time at all. So, your documentation is more than enough to meet that.

Under Section 222(f) of the INA, visa records are “inviolable” (confidential) and are protected from disclosure. Section (b)(3) of the FOIA exempts information from disclosure when it is protected by other federal statutes — which visa records are. (Scroll down to the “Please note” paragraph in item 7 on the State Dept FOIA site: https://foia.state.gov/Request/Guide.aspx#FreedomofInformationActFOIAFOIAExemptions.) The only response to a visa FOIA request will be a copy of what you submitted and a copy of anything that was provided to the applicant at the interview. You will not get a copy of the officer’s case notes. BTW, the exemption from release also would apply if the officer’s notes are based on another agency’s information (e.g., information from law enforcement sources). That information would be exempt from release by the State Dept even without the confidentiality of the visa record. They do not “own” the information and cannot determine if it should be released or not — that decision rests with the agency/entity that created the information.

Generally, there is no time limit for follow-to-join, unless a child involved will turn 21. See 9 FAM 502.1-1(C)(2): https://fam.state.gov/fam/09FAM/09FAM050201.html. Unless you can still access the cases for spouse and children on the NVC website and submit documents, etc., you will need to get an answer from the consulate in how to proceed.

Even though the leaflet is 2013 doesn’t mean it isn’t accurate information. This has been an established part of the re-entry permit process since at least the early 1990’s and is still a part of the process. If, however unlikely it would be, the re-entry permit is denied, the individual would go through the same process discussed here many times — return to the US, be interviewed at the POE, explain the absence (and, in this case, show the I-131 receipt), and get admitted to the US. The worst case scenario would be a referral to an immigration judge.

This is not accurate. There is an established process where, after biometrics, you can leave the US and, on your application form, request to pick up the issued permit at the Embassy/Consulate nearest you. This process would not exist if you weren’t supposed to leave until the permit is issued. It is described in USCIS literature at: https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/guides/B5en.pdf.

Not mentioning your name achieves nothing — except raising doubt with the interviewing officer. The officer has access to, and will likely review, the previous recent application. If you suddenly disappear from the application, the officer will assume she is trying to conceal information (which, of course, is exactly right). And, a return ticket is not proof that she will leave the US at all. It’s only proof that a ticket was purchased. For example, many (most?) immigrant visa recipients purchase round-trip tickets when moving to the US to live — its cheaper. She will not be asked about or have a chance to to show her ticket. What the officer will be looking for is whatever aspect of her life she has that will ensure she has to leave the US and return to it — family, job, education, culture, etc.

He’s applying for a non-immigrant visa, so there’s no place on the application asking specifics about financing. Financial resources might be asked about in the interview — where you’re right about telling the truth! — but maybe not even then.

A major reason for requiring paper versions of some of the required documentation — birth, death, divorce, arrest records, etc — especially at the interview, is to ensure they have the proper security features and have not been altered. It’s become way too easy to create high quality fake documentation.