carmel34

Check out these two threads for more information. Montreal is a strict consulate for US domicile and DCF cases are rarely accepted. If your USC husband has a company in the US I doubt that DCF would apply.

USC is US citizen. Yes to your second question. Just make sure that you confirm the address change with CBP at arrival in the US and also with USCIS, to make sure that all documents/notices go to the new address. Call USCIS to confirm that they have updated the address in their system, as they are known to mess up address changes.

Utah Zoom marriage has worked for many spousal visa applicants, just search on Visa Journey for all those who have been successful doing this. Marriage in Brazil is very complicated, especially when one person is not from Brazil. The documentation needs to be apostilled or legalized, and translated to Portuguese by a government-approved translation service in Brazil, all of which can be a big hassle for the US citizen and takes a lot of time and money before an application can even be done. Dates vary by local cartorio, check with your local office to confirm the application process, documents needed, and things like apostilles and legalizations. My Canadian birth certificate had to be "legalized" by the Brazilian consulate in Vancouver, more time and money, FedEx charges, etc., then was sent for official translation in Brazil, then to the local cartorio. It is also a requirement for both parties to the marriage to sign the application forms, before the waiting period and publication of banns prior to marriage which is usually 15 days. I could not make two trips, one to sign the forms, and another trip two weeks later for the marriage, so I had to pay a lawyer in the US to do a power of attorney so my husband's friend could sign the forms on my behalf. This power of attorney document had to be apostilled by the Secretary of State's office in the state I resided in (California at the time, so I had to travel to Sacramento, wait two hours, pay a fee), then this document was sent to an official translation service in Brazil. My divorce decree had to be apostilled by the Secretary of State in Austin, Texas (I was able to get this by mail but it took weeks), then sent for official translation in Brazil like all the other documents. Trust me when I say you should avoid all of this craziness and just do the Utah Zoom marriage which is simple and fast if you are together in Brazil for the ceremony. Here is a summary of the documents and process for a foreigner to marry a Brazilian in Brazil: 1. Registration of the intent to marry: This is made at the Civil Registry Office(Cartório de Regístro Civil) responsible for the district or municipality where either one of the couple is resident. Every region, district or municipality in Brazil has a registry office which is responsible for the registration and documentation of the general public’s civil affairs. Presentation of the documents: It is recommended that a couple intending to marry should register their intent to do so at least 30 days prior to the intended date of the marriage ceremony. The registration process can take a minimum of 20 days and a maximum of 60 days. Foreigners must fill in an application form and present the following documents at the registry office to begin the marriage process: • Original copies of passport or Foreigner's identity card (Cédula de Identidade para Estrangeiro - CIE which contains the Registro National De Estrangeiro - RNE the identity number for non-nationals) • Original birth certificate - certified by a Brazilian Consulate in the issuing country • Declaration of Civil Status issued by the local Consulate or Embassy (the declaration of civil status is valid for ninety days) If either party has previously been married, they must provide a copy of the final divorce decree (or death certificate of the former spouse if widowed). The names and identification numbers of the intended witnesses to the marriage should also be registered, although the witnesses themselves do not have to be present at this registration. All documents that are not in Portuguese must be translated by a certified translator and authenticated by a local public notary (Tabelião). A local home country Consulate can provide contact details for these official translators. There is a small fee to register the intent to marry; it varies from state to state. 2. Publication of the banns: The registry office displays the statement of the intention of marriage on its walls for a period of 15 days and publishes banns in the local press. Following a 15 day waiting period, the couple are free to marry. 3. Issue of marriage license: Once all the documents have been presented to the registry office, approved by the notary officials and no valid objections have been received from members of the public, the registry official issues a marriage license (Certidao de Habilitação de Casamento), which is a permit to marry, valid for 90 days. Marriage for Non-residents Couples that wish to travel to Brazil to marry will need to have the following documents certified at the Brazilian Consulate in their home country: • Birth certificates • Proof that they are single • Proof of residence in the foreign country (utility bills) If either party has previously been married, they must provide a copy of the final divorce decree (or death certificate of the former spouse if widowed). They must present these documents themselves (or somebody may do so on their behalf) at the Civil Registry Office in the state where they will marry. This must be done at least one month before they intend to marry. It is not possible to arrange the marriage by post with the Civil Registry Office.

If you and your US citizen boyfriend decide on a spousal visa, it is complicated to get married the regular way in Brazil. I have done it, and the marriage application documents (requiring apostilles/legalization of documents, certified translation of documents by a government-approved translation service, apostilled power of attorney to sign forms in Brazil on my behalf), plus required 30 day waiting time after applying for marriage, make it difficult. He can't just show up in Brazil to visit and get married within a week or two. For a CR-1, I recommend the Utah Zoom marriage option while he visits you in Brazil next year (assuming that his mother approves after meeting you and the paternity test confirms that he is the father). Do more research on the Utah Zoom marriage. The CR-1 process will take 1-2 years. K-1 has disadvantages but some couples choose it anyway. Good luck!

No to both questions. You're in Canada, so the I-485 is not an option for you, and it would be immigration fraud if you enter the US as a visitor and then try to stay and adjust status. I-130 is the correct petition for the USC to submit to USCIS, and once that is approved, the case goes to NVC, a DS-260 is completed online with supporting documents, and then you wait for an interview in Montreal. The process is taking 1-2 years right now. You can submit an I-407 if you want to. I (USC, dual citizen) filed for my Canadian spouse's I-130 a second time after returning to Canada, and she gave the officer the first green card at the visa interview for the second one without filing the I-407. Pay close attention to US domicile for your USC spouse, and required US based income to sponsor you, Montreal is very strict on domicile. If your USC spouse has a valid job offer in the US, ask the Montreal US Consulate if they will accept the I-130, DCF (direct consular filing), which is much faster than the regular process. Good luck!

Your USC husband files the initial petition form, not you. He needs to do more research to do it himself, to find out which documents are needed for a CR-1/IR-1, starting with a petition. If he does not want to research everything, a lawyer or trustworthy visa service in the US can be helpful. The process takes about two years.

You can get married anywhere, as long as it is legal where you marry and you get a marriage certificate, then you start the process after marriage by filing an I-130 petition for your wife. If you get married in the USA while she is there on a tourist visa, she will have to return to Argentina to wait out the process, which will take about two years from petition to visa interview in Argentina, give or take. It is fraud to enter the US on a tourist visa with the intent to stay and adjust status through marriage to you, so don't even consider doing that. The only other legal option, if you qualify, would be DCF (direct consular filing). That could work if you have a current job offer in the US. If you can get a US job offer, ask the US consulate/embassy in Argentina after you get married. It is up to them whether they accept your I-130 for DCF, and if approved takes only a few months max for the spousal visa for your wife. Some countries do not even offer DCF. If they say no to DCF, you can minimize separation after marriage. Just live in Argentina together while she waits for the petition and visa approval over the next two years, then travel with her when her visa is approved. Prior to her visa interview in Argentina, she will need proof that you have maintained your US domicile, or evidence to re-establish US domicile, and IRS tax returns. You will also need financial sponsorship if you do not have a job in the US. Do more research and read the spousal visa guide here on VJ. Good luck!

Not true. Source please?

2 year or 10 year green card is expiring next year? If 2 year, have you filed an I-751 for removal of conditions?

I-824 will take about a year, so it will take almost two more years to complete spousal visa process, assuming that there are no other issues with your case. There is no way to avoid the wait time and filing fee.

Do you still have a USC girlfriend? If so, that's a strong tie to the US and will be a big hurdle for you to get any kind of non-immigrant visa, on top of the previous two denials. You got 11 pages of advice about your situation last year:

At my husband's oath ceremony a few weeks ago at the Atlanta USCIS field office, the person in charge asked if anyone had travel plans to leave the US in the next few months. One person held up his hand. They took him aside to (presumably) reschedule the oath ceremony. In your case, I recommend that you call the number on the oath ceremony interview letter (there should be wording on the letter and a phone number to call if you need to reschedule), explain the situation regarding upcoming travel to Nepal, and see what they say. It may be possible to schedule the oath ceremony for after January 2nd, maybe not. It's up to each USCIS field office. Another option would be to go ahead with the oath ceremony as scheduled, and then prepare a passport application with proof of upcoming urgent travel, call the passport agency to set an appointment, and the passport may be ready before the trip in November. Good luck! https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/get-fast.html

I second Mike E's suggestion to write a letter. It worked for my husband a few weeks ago. We didn't want to assume that the N-400 would be a combo interview with the pending I-751, given the frequent incompetence of USCIS. All it took was a simple one page letter to the USCIS field office, requesting a combo interview. Include a copy of the N-400 interview notice and the I-751 receipt number. My husband got his US passport yesterday, it only took 5 weeks, a big surprise given the backlog. Now he can finally leave the US for travel.

Follow the instructions on the form given to you EXACTLY. Send them the documents they asked for, via the process specified. If you don't do what they ask, the visa will be denied.

From the CBP website: https://help.cbp.gov/s/sidebar-top-5-travel?language=en_US Land or Sea Travel: U.S. citizens (including infants and children) entering the United States by land or sea are required to present a valid WHTI-compliant travel document. These include: U.S. Passport or U.S. Passport Card Enhanced Driver's License Enhanced Tribal Card Trusted Traveler Program (TTP) cards* (Global Entry**, NEXUS, or SENTRI) U.S. military orders (PCS) with valid military ID. Accompanying immediate family members can use any WHTI-compliant travel document. U.S. Merchant Mariner Credential with official travel letter.

You should both disclose everything. Never lie on a federal form, it is a serious offense and could lead to denial of the visa for misrepresentation. Physical addresses where both of you have lived, worked, etc. Police reports will be required before her visa interview which is a long way off if you haven't even filed the I-130 petition yet.

There is no US visa for living together before deciding on whether marriage is what you both want. Short visits of a few weeks on ESTA may work, but each visit has to be less than 90 days. Plus, if you visit the US too often on ESTA, or stay too long, CBP could see this in their system and cancel your ESTA. Every entry to the US is subject to CBP questioning, and they could refuse entry if they suspect that you are abusing ESTA privileges or plan to do something illegal like work in the US or overstay the visit. The most practical way forward is for you and your boyfriend to visit each other occasionally, either in the US, Spain, or any other location, spend a week or two together each time as your jobs allow, do lots of video calls while apart, and if you eventually make the decision to get married, do it and start the spousal visa process, which is taking about two years these days.

This is unlikely to work, for many reasons. Officers will make an assessment of the I-864 based on the totality of the circumstances--they have the authority to make decisions based on the uniqueness of each case. The problem with your idea is that it is simply that, an idea. There is no income currently, so nothing to continue in the US after your immigration. If your wife were to move to the US and establish this olive oil importation business, start operations, and show a good profit based on tax returns filed with the IRS at the end of the year, the idea might work, but that would take a year or two at least. There is also a risk that the idea might fail financially. If you have enough money to start such a business, have you considered using liquid assets for the I-864? My original recommendation stands: your USC wife should return to the US and find a job that will satisfy the I-864. That is the path with the greatest chance of success if you can't find a qualified joint sponsor or use your own liquid assets.

It's nearly impossible to get an "urgent travel" appointment with a passport agency right now. A few weeks ago, after getting the oath ceremony notice, my husband called the passport agency number hundreds of times over a three day period and could not get through. He finally gave up and set a regular appointment online for the closest post office. Even with the expedite fee it will take 3-4 months to get his first US passport, so he's stuck in the US until then, sort of a "new US citizen, but unable to leave limbo" that is a big problem if something urgent comes up. If his grandmother passes away in the next three months, which is very possible, he will not be able to go to the funeral in Brazil. There is a life or death emergency option, to get a passport in 3 days, but that also requires making an appointment with a passport agency, and the phone lines are just not able to handle the volume. The demand is crazy and their current system is not capable of dealing with it. All the DOS says is something like "unexpectedly high post-COVID demand for travel and passports."

Sorry, I missed the post from February about relinquishing the green card and filing an I-407, but I did not see where OP said that the I-130 was filed with USCIS, so DCF is not an option, my bad. @NicolòVito, without a qualified joint sponsor or sufficient liquid assets in US dollars, your best path forward is for your USC wife to return to the US after the I-130 petition has been approved, a few months before your visa interview, and get a job sufficient to sponsor you plus establish US domicile. A few months living apart will likely be necessary if you want to immigrate to the US again. Good luck!

I've done DCF successfully with proof of future US-based (job offer) income for the I-864. Maybe that's what happened in 2019 for OP, both spouses could have had evidence of US job offers and that was sufficient for the officer. OP, @NicolòVito when did you leave the US after entering in 2019? If it was a 10-year green card it could still be valid. If so, you may be able to get on the next flight to the US. Where was the most recent I-130 submitted (to the Naples Consulate or to USCIS), when was it submitted, and has it been approved? More information would be helpful to give you the best advice.

NVC will know because when they receive the I-824 after it is processed by USCIS, the physical address filled in for part 1 (if applicant/beneficiary completes and submits the I-824) or in part 3 (if petitioner completes and submits the I-824) will be in Australia. 1.d. is the correct box to check.

Yes, complete the I-824 is your next step, $465 and about a year for the approved petition to go to NVC. Good luck! https://www.uscis.gov/i-824

Congrats on the oath ceremony! You're almost done.... The challenge with the urgent passport option is that even with a flight ticket for travel within 14 days of your application date, you will need an appointment at a passport agency. With the huge demand for passports right now, it is very difficult to get an appointment. It's very easy to book a flight ticket to qualify and then change it later if needed, so many people are trying the urgent route and plugging up the phones. My husband had his oath ceremony a month ago and when he got his appointment notice, he tried to schedule an urgent passport interview, but gave up after a few days of endless calling and settled for a regular appointment at a local post office two weeks after his oath ceremony and made the appointment online. He paid extra for the "expedited" option which is taking three months right now. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/get-fast.html https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/get-fast/passport-agencies.html

I strongly suggest that you spend more time together. She should visit you a few more times, either before filing the I-130 petition, or after, before the NVC stage. Marrying in Tunisia on the second visit may not be enough time in person to successfully get a visa.