carmel34

Using assets to replace or supplement income is tricky and depends on the consulate and officer conducting the interview. They tend to prefer current income vs assets. If assets are used, they should be liquid (i.e., cash savings). If you were to sell the house and net $100K, where would you live? If you sell the stocks and move the cash to your bank account, how long would that money support you and the intending immigrant? This is why officers prefer sufficient current income. I suggest that in the year or more until the I-134 is needed, and beyond that for the I-864, that you find a regular W2 job or find a qualified joint sponsor.

We've used aipassportphoto.com, for $4.99 all you do is upload the headshot photo from any source and it crops and adjusts it to be compliant, then formats it to print 4 2x2 photos which you can upload to walgreens and print for less than a dollar.

From what you have shared about your friend's experience, the I-751 interview was nearly 2 hours, which is unheard of and clearly shows that the officer does not think the marriage is bona fide. The officer did not "refuse" to do the N-400 interview, it was simply not possible because I-751 has to be approved first per USCIS policy. Advise your friend to hire a more experienced attorney.

OP said yes to the question has she sponsored one or more spouses in the past. So that could be the reason for the increased scrutiny. Plus, we still don't know the circumstances of the relationship, number of visits, time spent together before and since marriage, etc.

Montreal is notorious for requiring US domicile for the USC petitioner at the visa interview. Some have been able to overcome this with evidence of intent to re-establish US domicile, others were denied and the USC had to move to the US before the Canadian spouse to find a place to live, open a US bank account, get a US driver's license, register to vote, etc., adding months to the process. There are many examples of this here on VJ, search previous posts and do more research on the domicile requirements for Montreal.

My husband is also from Brazil, and he had his combo interview for I-751 and N-400 a few weeks ago at the Atlanta USCIS field office. Given everything you have shared, I do not think that hiring an attorney for the interview is necessary, unless you are a worrier and having a legal representative at the interview would increase your peace of mind. The evidence of your marital relationship sounds very solid. They will likely invite both of you into the interview room for the I-751 and may ask both of you questions. My husband and I were asked a few questions about how we met and who proposed, why we sold our house in California (seemed obvious, we moved to Georgia for work), and if we had any new financial co-mingling evidence since filing the original I-751 two years before (we gave the officer IRS tax return transcripts for 2021 and 2022 and quarterly joint bank account statements for the last two years). We had two very thick file folders with much more financial evidence but were not asked to provide more. Our age gap is 27 years, so much more than your 8. The officer then asked for photos which we gave him. He flipped through the photos and then said the I-751 was approved and asked me to leave. He then conducted the naturalization interview with my husband by reviewing all of the N-400 form questions, did the English test (reading: Who can vote? writing: All citizens can vote.), and asked six of the 100 history/civics questions, all answered correctly (he had studied them every evening for three months) and the interview was over. His oath ceremony was a few weeks later and he's now waiting for his US passport to be processed and delivered. If you are well prepared you have nothing to worry about. Good luck with the interview!

Contact the DSO at the school on the approved F-1 visa to ask about the transfer process. It may or may not be possible before entering the US, depending on the circumstances. You may have to start at school A first. If the program begins in a few weeks you should reach out to the school A DSO today. https://www.ice.gov/sevis/f1-transfers

Once married, you can either file US tax return as "married separately" by writing "NRA" (non-resident alien) in the SSN, or "married jointly" with a completed W-7 (application for ITIN) which is a bit complicated but has the advantage that you get the tax benefit immediately without having to wait to file an amended tax return in future years. Those are the two options.

This would likely be sufficient for most countries, however Canada (Montreal) is different because of the ease of travel between the US and Canada. If your wife has never lived in the US, intent to establish domicile in the US even with the evidence you plan on gathering may not be enough. It's a risk you should discuss with your wife based on thorough research. You may be okay, you may not. Many USCs choose to reduce this risk by going to Canada for at least a few months alone to get a place to live and start a job earning a regular income prior to your visa interview in Montreal. You will have about 2 years to figure this all out, from the date of filing the I-130 petition until the visa interview. Good luck!

Collect more evidence of the marriage relationship since the petition was filed, additional time spent together, some financial co-mingling, etc. and upload all the new documents at the NVC stage. This will help strengthen the case if the interview is in Egypt.

Congrats! Did you request a combo interview with the pending I-751? If not, I would suggest doing that now to avoid the problem that some have encountered at the N-400 interview, where the officer says that the "I-751 case file is not here, we will need to request it."

You're getting ahead of yourself a bit. Have you met in person? If not, that would be the second step. First step is to disclose your HIV status to your boyfriend. After disclosing your medical situation and meeting in person, decide together where to go from there. If you both eventually agree to get married and live in the USA (or any other country), both of you need to thoroughly research the immigration process and what is involved. For the USA, it takes about two years from filing a petition to an immigrant visa interview abroad.

https://www.visajourney.com/portals/index.php?country=Kenya Check the Kenya portal to see what others are experiencing. Good luck!

4 bank statements, one per quarter from the last year should be sufficient and cut down on pages. A recent letter from the bank stating the current savings balance would help as well if you can get one. Attach a statement showing the conversion to US dollars if applicable.

Officers are not required to look at anything brought to the interview. They can if they want to, but most don't. A decision is made based in the information in the submitted visa application, and responses to questions asked during the interview. There is no way to force an officer to look at the file of "stuff" she brings with her. If she tries, it could backfire as a sign of desperation. With a recent denial on her record, she should wait a while before trying again. DOS website says current wait time for a B2 visa interview in Manila is 161 days from filing a new application online and paying the fee again.

You can't make plans for travel and marriage to France and then try to find a workaround given US immigration law. It doesn't work that way and can lead to problems for you down the road, so why jeopardize your ability to stay in the US? The timelines and paths for you to become a legal permanent resident have been laid out clearly in response to your questions. You and your significant other have some decisions to make given those options and their estimated timelines, which are out of your control. Learn and research all of this for yourself, and make a decision that is legal. Your travel and marriage plans may have to be adjusted to align with the law and the slow, inefficient US immigration bureaucracy. If you decide to use an attorney, I suggest that you find one that is competent and knowledgeable in US immigration law. Good luck!

Now it's $185. OP, your girlfriend can apply now online and then set the B2 interview online, wait times are about two years for an interview in Canada. Approval will depend on the strength of her ties to Canada (property owned, stable job, etc.). Having you as a significant other in the US will be considered as a strong tie to the US, and she will have to overcome the assumption by the officer conducting the interview that she could just be using the B2 visa to enter the US, overstay, marry you and apply for adjustment of status which is fraud. So there's no guarantee that a B2 will be approved. If you want to see her during the two year wait time for a B2, you will have to go visit her in Canada. If your intention is for her to live with you in the US permanently, the best path forward is to file a petition for a K-1 or get married in Canada and file for a CR-1. Both of those options take about two years.

There is a 2 year wait time for B1/B2 visa appointments at US consulates/embassy in Canada right now.

Current wait times for a B2 visa appointment at US consulates/embassy in Canada, per Dept. of State website: Toronto, 733 days Vancouver, 638 days Calgary, 562 days Halifax, 696 days Quebec City, 676 days Ottawa, 696 Note: Montreal says "emergency appointments only" for B2 applicants. source: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/wait-times.html

The only experience I can offer is at my husband's oath ceremony in Atlanta USCIS field office on June 28, just prior to the ceremony the officer asked if any candidate had plans to travel outside the US in the near future. One person raised his hand, and they took him aside to reschedule the oath ceremony for after he returns to the US. The oath ceremony notice has a number your wife can call to reschedule for early 2024. They won't close the case if she reschedules now. Just make sure she has proper documentation of her LPR status that is valid until after she plans to return (valid green card, extension letter if ROC is still pending, stamp in passport, etc.). The downside of delaying until 2024 is that when she fills out the questionnaire on the day of the rescheduled oath ceremony, she will have to answer that she was recently out of the US for an extended period (6 months?), which could affect her eligibility to naturalize based on the continuous residence/physical presence rules (see below for link). I suggest that you just delay her travel plans until after the oath ceremony in two weeks, and use her flight itinerary to submit an expedited passport application at the nearest Dept. of State Passport Agency, and request their Urgent Travel Service, which takes 1-2 weeks to get a passport. Are the children US citizens and already have their US passports? Option 1, delay the oath ceremony until after she returns, could mean a further delay to naturalize because of continuous residence/physical presence issues. Option 2, go to the scheduled oath ceremony in 2 weeks, will delay the departure to Brazil. Your choice, but I would go with 2. https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/continuous-residence-and-physical-presence-requirements-for-naturalization

More information is needed to give you the best advice. Is his case at NVC or USCIS? Has the I-130 petition been approved? Your post suggests that the petition was approved at some point and the case is waiting for an interview in Montreal. What is the timeline? Has the beneficiary contacted NVC via email to inquire?

OP doesn't have a green card, just filed adjustment of status in June 2023. Only path to LPR and green card for OP is to reconcile with abusive husband or to leave him and file VAWA (with documented evidence showing battery or extreme cruelty). Leaving the US seems to be the best option and what OP prefers.

VAWA cases are more likely to be approved if there is documentation regarding the domestic abuse (police reports), as false claims cannot be verified. Does she have documented evidence?

USC husband files the I-130 petition to start the process, that stage will take 12-18 months if all goes well. NVC stage is next, it takes 2-3 months. After that, you wait for the visa interview to be scheduled in Rio. Total time is about 2 years. Good luck!

Try for same day delivery tomorrow, with UPS/USPS/Fedex. Keep proof of the same day delivery receipt. You may be okay. If they deny the I-751 because of missing the RFE deadline, send a letter to the Portland field office explaining the situation and include the receipt. If that doesn't work, file a new I-751 package. Your husband does not need to leave the US, he continues to be a legal permanent resident, only an immigration judge can revoke his status. No need to start over with I-130. Good luck!