carmel34

You can stay in the US if you want to and he can't do anything about it. I suggest that you start first with a divorce attorney and get the process going. If he is unpredictable and might do something crazy, consider gathering up all relevant documents from your I-751 filing and joint financial evidence since then, put some money in your own bank account, and go somewhere safe (move out) before he is served with divorce papers. Later, hire an immigration attorney to help you with updating USCIS with the divorce decree and changing the I-751 to a waiver, or ask questions here and do it yourself. Good luck!

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!