Ellie_7

What @Daphne . observed is right on.

@Hughughug333, Welcome to the United States! The adjustments and culture differences are everywhere and one always has them to deal with, regardless of whether the paperwork is adjustment of legal status or if it's an immigrant visa process. It can be challenging but the challenge can get easier with time. Sending you encouragement and wishing you the best of success! 😊

@astroboy3545 Whatever happens with your application, please keep us updated. Wishing you success.

I highly doubt any U.S. immigration official will get upset that a mistake was made in the city of birth of a U.S. citizen petitioner. It was not wilful misrepresentation and it is not material misrepresentation. Also seconding what SalishSea said. A birth certificate taking months to arrive is not typical in the U.S. When I ordered extra copies of marriage & birth certificates for my state, they all arrived within a week. Also, applying in person for a birth certificate can take as little as half an hour to get the certificate. So, for hopeful immigrants reading through this thread, please do not conclude months of waiting for a simple birth certificate is what you are by default doomed to experience. I looked up Illinois's Dept of Vital Statistics website and it says requests by mail for certificates are taking 12 weeks for processing. No specific information on how fast VitalChek takes to process. https://dph.illinois.gov/topics-services/birth-death-other-records/birth-records/obtain-birth-certificate.html

We went through the COVID mumbo jumbo, travel bans that were interpreted by DOS as visa bans, etc. And an election year! For the OP, as well as anyone reading this going thru similar steps in their process, you would do well to heed MarJhi's advice. Trump's administration changed the K1 + AOS process. Some changes were reversed (for example, look up the form 944 Declaration of Self Sufficiency). Other changes were not. A friend of mine completed her K1+AOS process several years ago, before the Trump administration's more permanent changes took effect. Her entire K1 process was six months from when they sent the petition to when she arrived on U.S. soil. When she applied for her green card she was required to simply include her marriage certificate, proving she complied with the requirements of the K1 visa. Her green card was approved, no interview, and in no more than three months.

Chiming in to underscore wildbug100420's observation about Real ID. A state that has implemented the Real ID will require the physical SSN card (not a copy, has to be the card itself) for issuing a driver's license. (If your state has not implemented Real ID, it may differ.) The requirement for the SSN card does not change whether you are a U.S. "natural born" citizen or an immigrant.

Welcome to America, @Karmo! Thank you for sharing your experience with us. God bless you.

The IRS does not state a passport is the only document one can use to apply for an ITIN. A passport can be used but the IRS states: "There are 13 acceptable documents, as shown in the following table" - see "Supporting Documentation Requirements" here: https://www.irs.gov/instructions/iw7#idm140054953680896

Thank you, @Ljubcasta, for updating the thread, and in such excellent detail.

@Liya S. I commend you for coming to Visa Journey to ask about this. I am glad to see that you are stating you are not in a rush. Many wise and experienced members have already brought up excellent advice and tips. I'm also wondering how easily he would be able to sponsor someone. If a US citizen's income is not enough to meet requirements, there is the avenue of joint sponsor. But we have seen parents posting on VisaJourney that they aren't comfortable being a joint sponsor for their son or daughter's spouse in cases and ended up refusing to do so... And these were situations where neither the son/daughter nor the spouse had committed any type of crime. It was just that the parents didn't feel comfortable signing up for the responsibility of sponsoring an immigrant. So yeah, I wonder if this young man has looked into the sponsorship aspect of what he was suggesting.

This is definitely a sad, messy situation with no simple, convenient solutions or path to closure. I would underscore that it is extremely odd that she was able to obtain a visa with that criminal history. If it were the case that a country's law enforcement/judicial system took such a long time to "process through" felonious acts that such history would legitimately not appear on the country's police certificate, then wouldn't the US consulate in such a country not be aware of the legal slowness? And in countries where fraud is so high that its citizens could pay off someone for a "police certificate" that hides criminal history, we see an abundance of examples on VJ of visa applicants waiting for months or even years until the consulate can make a decision on issuing the visa.

Does anyone happen to have experience with Austrian Airlines and how that airline handles green cards with the extension letter?

Another "vote", so to speak, for the parents' address on the husband's ID being a red flag. I would even go as far to suggest getting your own Real ID may be not worth it if the parents' address is still on the husband's ID.

I second all the excellent suggestions on how to show proof of address. Regarding the assertion, "by law you are required to have some sort of health insurance," this is inaccurate to my knowledge. Trump did issue an executive order requiring immigrants to have health insurance or show proof of how they would pay health costs, but Biden revoked the order in 2021. (If a law requiring immigrants to have health insurance now exists, anyone with evidence of such a law is welcome to provide it.) https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/553629-biden-revokes-trump-era-order-barring-immigrants-who-cannot-afford/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/05/14/a-proclamation-on-revoking-proclamation-9945/

Ditto. I have even more respect for him now... How a good deed shines in a weary world. God bless his widow.

Giving a shout out to @geowrianfor his helpfulness. Haven't seen him post for months; nonetheless, I want to give credit where it's due.

I'd be pessimistic in regards to the IO's decision, based on what the OP has stated so far. One factor isolated by itself -- separate sleeping rooms, or that bank statement problematic for the IO -- is one thing. Two (or more) factors are what makes it difficult to convince an IO of the bona fides.

@PGaffney Sorry to hear of this denial and praying for your success. (Kudos to you for screenshotting their website and keeping good records.) Please keep us updated on the outcome. Thank you!

@nerdcouple Thank you for the update. That is truly amazing. I also wonder whether Global Entry played a role. (Nonetheless, despite the amazing outcome in this case, I wouldn't recommend any LPR push his chances by intentionally trying to enter the US without the green card.)

@jundc Congratulations! Praise God! Thank you also very much for coming back to update the thread with the results.

Is there any official source or data backing up the notion that the I-751s approved in approx. 3 months is exclusively due to a military spouse being involved in those cases?

Simply creating an online account at myUSCIS does not create an online account number. USCIS issues the online access codes and the online account number for those who did not have one previously because their previous applications were not eligible to be filed online (i.e. I-129F, I-485). Conversely, someone who has filed for a spousal visa online would already have an online account number and would not need an access code. If anyone loses the online access code (or didn't successfully receive it, or the code expired) you can check page 1, Question 2 from this Question & Answer PDF published by DHS. https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/2022-09/Question%20and%20Answers%20for%20USCIS%20Online%20Account%20for%20Attorneys%20Webinar.pdf

"Until I met an amazing woman in Brazil" "I'm going to meet her and her son in person in August" Making the acquaintance of someone via Internet is not meeting him or her. Not only do I chime in with others' advice about meeting in person, embassy location, etc, I'd say make extra sure, because there is a child. I've lost count of the threads on VisaJourney through the years about the challenges and stresses that a child entails when the child is only the man's or woman's child and not the mutual child. (Not to mention there's stresses when the child is the offspring of both immigrant and U.S. citizen.)

When we researched I-751 prep we found this very helpful: https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/794232-sending-in-i-751-organization-tips/?do=findComment&comment=10781810 Wuozopo noted that their package was 75 pages (similar to Mike E's), and approved without RFE and without interview.

Spousal visa is better. Pregnancy will not expedite the process of getting an immigrant or K-1 visa. I know a couple who applied for the spousal visa & had a child before the visa interview. Not only were they able to successfully get their baby a U.S passport, etc., the consular officer made specific and direct comments about their choice to have a child and that it played a favorable role in his approving the spousal visa at the interview. Of course not all cases & circumstances are the same. You are right: "By the time a visa is given, it may be too late to start a family." Time is your enemy, not your friend, for having a child at this stage in life. God bless you in your journey.