carmel34

It depends on the nature of your business, the potential financial risks involved, and if you want to form a separate legal entity such as an LLC, C corp, etc. You can operate a business in the US as a sole proprietorship which does not require any registration or incorporation at all. If you decide to form an LLC or C corp, or others (there are many options, each with pros and cons), you should do research on the process in the state where you will be living before you arrive and decide on the best path for your situation, so that you can register/incorporate soon after your arrival in the US. You can do this yourself without an attorney if you want to. I had my own business years ago when living in Texas, and formed a C corp by filing the forms with the Secretary of State office and paying nominal fees as it was pretty simple. You may also want to find a competent accountant to help you with filing taxes as the process can be very complicated in the US depending on how you ultimately decide to set up your business.

Maybe, or maybe not, it is difficult to predict at this point. USCIS does a thorough background check on petitioners and can see criminal records for dismissed charges that you can't, this is the most likely reason for the request for your fingerprints, as it is very unusual for petitioners to have to go in for biometrics. Be prepared to hire a good immigration attorney with experience in AWA issues for the petitioner, and have all the documents from the dismissed charges ready to submit if asked. Good luck!

OP, I'm not sure if you want more advice, since you have already received plenty of different opinions about your very difficult situation. The one thing that resonates with me, reading your heartfelt cries for help, is that marriage is a very big commitment, so definitely think things through carefully and rationally before taking that step. My first marriage was based on a very short courtship, and was not long distance, we were both college students, same language, culture, and age. Being so young, I did not recognize the behavioral issues that my potential partner had, nor did I understand the problems that her tantrums would eventually cause in our relationship. I pressed forward, thinking that if I loved her enough, and was the best husband I could be, we could make it work. We had four children together, but the marriage was always a big challenge, and got more problematic over time. She blew up and walked away at any little thing that bothered her, ignoring me, verbally and emotionally abusing me and the kids, throwing things, slamming doors. We tried counseling multiple times but that only made things worse. I stayed married for the sake of the children. When they were all adults, and three out of four married, I finally had the courage to file for divorce and moved on with my life. In my experience, people who have a tendency to throw tantrums to emotionally manipulate their partners keep on doing it and accept no responsibility for their actions. Only you can decide whether to continue the relationship or not. Only you can look at things rationally and weigh the pros and cons of following through and getting married to your fiancée. All I can say is be very cautious, because problems like the ones you describe can often get worse over time, not better. Are you willing to take the risk to your happiness and that of your children? I regret the decision to marry my first spouse. I did not see the warning signs when I was blinded by love. Step away from the drama if you can and see a professional counselor by yourself a few times, to help you see clearly, then figure out what to do. I wish you all the best in your life's journey.

Sounds like a long talk with your husband would be a good idea, to decide where you want to live long-term. If he is currently in the US, you can file an adjustment of status (AOS) package for him. There is no 90 day rule, you can file everything yourself when you have all the documents, forms, and evidence ready to go. His ESTA would be gone if he stays longer than the authorized stay given by CBP on his most recent entry to the US and then decides to leave. It may take some time to get his civil documents, assuming that he did not bring them on a short trip to visit you. Before going down the AOS road, make sure he understands the timeline, with a very long wait without being able to work, leave the country, and in some states, not able to get a driver's license. Work authorization could take 8 months, a travel document and green card even longer. If he is ok with not working for 8 months, and not able to leave the US for a year or longer, he may be fine with you filing adjustment of status for him. Definitely go into the process with full awareness of the consequences.

The central concept you are asking about is that US immigration law views visa applications for immediate family members for reunification, i.e., in most cases, the petitioner, USC or LPR, lives in the USA while the beneficiary lives in another country, and the intent of the immigrant visa is for the beneficiary to live in the US (not visit occasionally) with the petitioner. Some consulates/embassies are particularly strict on the US domicile requirement for the petitioner (for example Canada), because of the ease of travel between the two countries. In your case, intent to re-establish a domicile in the US may be sufficient, and this evidence is not needed until the NVC and visa interview stages of the process. If you have a written job offer in the US, requiring you to relocate on short notice, you should try filing the I-130 via the DCF (direct consular filing) process, as it is much faster (a few weeks or months), enabling you to move to the US together. If you decide to try for DCF, contact the embassy/consulate where you live and ask if you qualify, because once you file an I-130 petition online with USCIS, you can't change to DCF later. If DCF is not available for your circumstances and consulate/embassy, you can then file the I-130 online with USCIS. Either way, you may not need to relocate before your spouse, if you have proof of US-based income that will continue after your spouse immigrates, or sufficient liquid assets for the I-864. Make sure your IRS tax returns have been filed each year, as evidence of this will be needed during the process. Good luck!

S. Korea is #36, Japan #80, based on this ranking of English proficiency in non-English speaking countries world-wide, so it looks like S. Korea "speaks the most English." Netherlands is #1 and Singapore #2, for context. https://www.ef.com/wwen/epi/

It depends on the backlog at the USCIS field office. My husband waited 9 months from biometrics until the naturalization interview, Atlanta.

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Get a written job offer from an employer in the US. That is your best path to getting DCF approved, which takes a few weeks or months depending on the consulate/embassy. If DCF doesn't work, you'll have to do the regular spousal visa process, which takes 1-2 years. Exceptional Circumstances Examples of exceptional circumstances include: Military emergencies – A U.S. service member, who is abroad but who does not fall under the military blanket authorization for U.S. service members stationed abroad on military bases, becomes aware of a new deployment or transfer with little notice. This exception generally applies in cases where the U.S. service member is provided with exceptionally less notice than normally expected. Medical emergencies – A petitioner or beneficiary is facing an urgent medical emergency that requires immediate travel. Threats to personal safety – A petitioner or beneficiary is facing an imminent threat to personal safety. For example, a petitioner and beneficiary may have been forced to flee their country of residence due to civil strife or natural disaster and are in precarious circumstances in a different country outside of the United States. Close to aging out – A beneficiary is within a few months of aging out of eligibility. Petitioner has recently naturalized – A petitioner and family member(s) have traveled for the immigrant visa interview, but the petitioner has naturalized and the family member(s) requires a new petition based on the petitioner’s citizenship. Adoption of a child – A petitioner has adopted a child abroad and has an imminent need to depart the country. This type of case should only be considered if the petitioner has a full and final adoption decree on behalf of the child and the adoptive parent(s) has had legal custody of and jointly resided with the child for at least 2 years. Short notice of position relocation – A U.S. citizen petitioner, living and working abroad, has received a job offer in or reassignment to the United States with little notice for the required start date. Discretion The list of examples provided above is not exhaustive. DOS may exercise its discretion to accept local Form I-130 filings for other emergency or exceptional circumstances of a non-routine nature, unless specifically noted below. However, such filings must be truly urgent and otherwise limited to situations when filing with USCIS online or domestically with an expedite request would likely not be sufficient to address the time-sensitive and exigent nature of the situation. https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-6-part-b-chapter-3

Spousal visa via the regular process is your only option. Start by filing an I-130 petition for her online from the USCIS website. Plan on 1-2 years before she gets a visa interview in the Philippines. Visit her there as often as you can during the 1-2 years and collect evidence of time spent together, in person, to submit at the NVC stage and/or visa interview. There is no fast path for a spousal visa based on the circumstances described in your posts. You will be living apart most of the time, unless you can move to the Philippines to live with her while waiting for her spousal visa. Good luck!

Try calling USCIS and ask for a tier 2 supervisor to find out if she is still in the system as an LPR. Only an immigration judge can revoke her status as an LPR. If she is still an LPR, file a new I-751 with supporting documents. She will then need an ADIT stamp in her passport each year or a new version that can be requested from USCIS and sent by mail. If she is not an LPR, there would have been an NTA sent and a judge revoked her LPR status because she did not appear. USCIS should be able to tell you. If not, try a FOIA request. If you can confirm that her LPR status was revoked, take out a loan, hire an experienced immigration attorney, and file an adjustment of status package, including an I-130. Here is the guide:

This is not always the case. My college has many federal grants that fund positions and there is no requirement that someone be a USC to apply. There are some federal grants that specify this, but it is very rare in my experience with grants for many years. Legal authorization to work is all that is needed for most positions funded by federal grants.

Your wait time is completely normal, N-400s are taking 8-12 months right now which is pretty fast considering how long I-751s are taking. I predict that you will receive an N-400 interview notice in the next few months. When that happens, send a letter to the USCIS field office requesting a combo interview with the pending I-751.

My husband's I-751 was filed in May of 2021, it was still pending when in August of 2022 he filed the N-400 online. Two weeks ago, he received an interview notice for the N-400, 8 months after filing it, and sent the USCIS field office (Atlanta) a letter requesting a combo interview with the pending I-751. Ten days later, he received another interview notice for the I-751, same day and time as the N-400 interview. So, in his case, filing the N-400 which is taking 8-10 months at most field offices, helped with the I-751 which was stagnant for two years. He's now busy preparing for the combo interview. Good luck!

My husband received an N-400 interview notice for June 8 (N-400 filed online in August 2022), and sent a written request for a combo interview with the pending I-751 (filed in May 2021) to the USCIS field office. A week later he received a notice that the I-751 interview will be on the same date, same time as the N-400 interview, and to bring his spouse. I recommend this for others waiting on the I-751 since May 2021. N-400 processing time is faster than I-751, so file for naturalization when eligible and then request a combo interview. Good luck everyone!

A successful SB-1 requires documentation and evidence to show that you could not return to the US in a timely manner, things beyond your control, which does not appear to be the case here. You chose to leave the US willingly to work abroad. What, if anything, did you do to maintain US residency since leaving? How many years have you been living outside the US? More than likely you will need to go through IR-1 spousal visa consular processing abroad (1-2 years), if you want to return to the US to live. Or, you could try DCF first if your USC spouse has a job offer in the US. Good luck!

Whatever he does, it needs to be disclosed, whether it shows up on an ACRO report or not. Non-disclosure can be viewed as misrepresentation which can cause major problems down the road. Always be 100% truthful with any stage of US immigration. We have seen similar cases here on VJ where a minor infraction was not disclosed and later discovered, leading to misrepresentation and delays. Given the circumstances of your fiancé's case, the marijuana use/possession from many years ago could likely be overcome, but always base decisions on complete honesty. Good luck!

N-400 cases are taking less than a year right now in most locations. Detroit USCIS field office is showing 10.5 months.

If it is a large property management company, they are likely to accommodate your request quickly after they hear from HUD. There are financial penalties and the potential for criminal action by the Federal Department of Justice if they do not comply. The company's attorney will receive the HUD complaint and advise them that their policy is discriminatory. Definitely push back and file a HUD complaint today. Good luck! Discrimination in Housing Based Upon National Origin The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination based upon national origin. Such discrimination can be based either upon the country of an individual's birth or where his or her ancestors originated. Census data indicate that the Hispanic population is the fastest growing segment of our nation's population. The Justice Department has taken enforcement action against municipal governments that have tried to reduce or limit the number of Hispanic families that may live in their communities. We have sued lenders under both the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act when they have imposed more stringent underwriting standards on home loans or made loans on less favorable terms for Hispanic borrowers. The Department has also sued lenders for discrimination against Native Americans. Other areas of the country have experienced an increasing diversity of national origin groups within their populations. This includes new immigrants from Southeastern Asia, such as the Hmong, the former Soviet Union, and other portions of Eastern Europe. We have taken action against private landlords who have discriminated against such individuals.

To the OP, evidence of current income for the joint sponsor is key in this case. A letter from the employer stating current income, and a few recent pay stubs would suffice. On the I864, current annual income is the recent month''s pay x 12. The officer will make a decision based on the totality of the circumstances. There is no guarantee that even if the joint sponsor's current income is enough, that it will be approved. They may be concerned about the brief income history in the US, maybe not.

April 28th my husband received a notice that his naturalization interview has been scheduled by the USCIS field office in Atlanta for June 8th (N-400 was filed online in August, 2022). No mention of a combo interview. His I-751 has been pending at the National Benefits Center, Lee's Summit, Missouri, since May of 2021. Today he wrote a letter to the USCIS field office in Atlanta, requesting a combo interview, and included a copy of the most recent I-797 from NBC, extending his green card 48 months, and explained in the letter that the I-751 is still pending. USCIS A number and both receipt numbers were clearly identified in the letter. We're trying to avoid the situation others have reported, where he goes to the N-400 interview, passes, but then has to wait months and months for the oath ceremony because the I-751 case file is not at the field office, but buried in a pile in an office somewhere in Missouri. Good luck everyone, hopefully you will soon be done with USCIS for good!

Side load the additional evidence collected since filing the I-130 at the NVC stage of the process, after the I-130 is approved. Use the year or so while waiting on the petition to gather more documents showing additional time spent together and financial co-mingling. Upload everything as a compressed PDF as an "additional document." Officers often don't even look at additional relationship evidence brought to the interview, only required civil documents.

5 weeks

Finally some movement on the N-400, filed in August, 2022. Maybe a combo interview, we'll see. Interview is in early June.

Best way to view this is not to focus on specific "red flags," but on the overall bona fides of the marriage relationship and evidence to back it up. Documents showing time spent together, in person, is the best evidence when living in separate countries, plus as much financial co-mingling evidence that you can put together. I have a PhD, my husband has no college, with big age, income, and language differences, and his spousal visa was approved with no RFEs, no delays, and his naturalization interview was just scheduled for next month. I did go visit him in Brazil 8 times over two years. Coming from the UK you will be fine.