PGA

Another point too is not to carry a ton of luggage with you. We didn't need a layover at FLL fortunately but since we were all moving from Peru we had a ton of suitcases. The officer though was pretty accommodating and said in order to save us (and them I'm sure) a lot of time he would send my wife to secondary and (since my daughter and I are US citizens) we could go through with all of the luggage and meet her outside. So my tip: don't travel with all your worldly possessions on the initial trip and especially no food, no plants, no cigarettes, or anything else that may arouse suspicion .

Just out of curiosity here because it wasn't mentioned, but did you fill out and submit the "Privacy Act Consent Form" for the senator's office?

Interesting... our child is covered under my wife's employment plan. I am only on her dental plan because I have my own medical (and my dental plan stinks).

First, don't believe all the stuff you see on social media. Second, as someone married to a Peruvian, tell her not to stuff her luggage with a bunch of Peruvian foods; I can personally attest that this can bring unwanted attention and cause significant delays 🫣.

Yeah you're right. Even worse. 😁

We have been working on our application the last few days to prepare to file later this year. I am slightly uncomfortable with submitting all our joint bank (or any bank/credit card) information to some nameless person sitting in a cubicle, whether at USCIS or anywhere else (I know, I know, we did it during the IR-1 process and I'm still uncomfortable with that). Now you have me worried that what we did add wasn't enough. So far we have - child's birth certificate - copy of our auto insurance cards for last (almost) 3 years - lease documents for last (almost) 3 years - 2024 MFJ return transcript, 2023 MFS return transcript (w/copy of amended return to explain why it was changed to MFS), 2022 MFJ return transcript. That's it....any opinions, suggestions?

I just checked. The answers are different on the app - on pdf its any of the options provided constitute a correct answer whereas the app is either one right answer or an "all of the above" choice.

OK. We downloaded the official USCIS app. So far, it seems ok. One thing I want to check is if the multiple choice answers are the same on the app as they are on the pdf. So far, it just seems the questions (and multiple choice answers) are taken from the pdf and put into an app. I'll keep you updated.

Great suggestions everyone, thanks! I was just trying to find out about experiences with the apps specifically that are available. We have downloaded the actual question list quite a while ago so she does have a copy. I know she does the youtube videos but sometimes she's easily distracted by youtube videos about restaurant/food critics and other things in Peru and I feel like I sometimes need to light a fire under her you-know-what. I may download the actual one from USCIS from google play and see how it works and try to do a review back here if I can manage to drag myself away from these youtube videos on lagers vs pilsners vs ales. 😁

OMG, thanks for the laugh but now I'm somewhat concerned we are married to the same woman. 😂

Has anybody used any of the apps available to help prepare for the exam/interview? We haven't downloaded any yet but I thought I'd check and see if anyone had recommendations, preferably free ones but we're open to all.

First (something I always recommend to people), offer to move to Mexico and see how that plays out. Other than that, I have some questions: have you ever met her in person? How did you meet? How long have you known her? Do you have any legal issues in your past? Does she? Does she have any prior travel history? Does she have a record of overstays of her visa anywhere (US particularly)? That is all important information to better judge the situation.

Good point. Though I can drive a few miles from my house and probably meet someone else from Peru, Mexico, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Czechoslovakia, or about a million other places.

10+ years is a pretty long time and I'm sure they see relationships that dissolve much quicker all the time. However, did the spouse just recently become a citizen (if so, that may be more concerning)? Also, the whole meeting another individual and having a child together while still being married to current spouse I'm sure will raise an eyebrow. That said, is the United States completely out of potential spouses? I have been married to my spouse going on 15 years now and, God forbid something ever happened to our relationship, but I would NEVER EVER do the immigration thing again; too much work, too much stress, and too much money.

Yeah, got that. Thanks.

My wife is technically eligible to apply for N400 under 3 year rule but we are waiting because we arrived in Aug 2022 with her IR1 but stayed just a few weeks and then went back to Peru to terminate our lease and take care of loose ends, arriving back in the US in Dec 2022. We will be applying for the N400 around Sep (90 days-ish). Currently, my wife wants to assist her mom in applying for a tourist visa so she can get in what we assume to be a long line and come visit us here (absolutely no intention of staying long term). Are there any people with experience or suggestions. Is this a good idea? bad idea? Any pitfalls we should consider? Thanks.

Yeah, this happened to my wife as well and they cancelled her tourist visa when she went to the interview. In relation to the other things you were talking about though I understand. I was born and raised in the US but lived with my wife in Peru for 12 years; we had our daughter there in 2012 and then we all moved here at the end of 2022. Look, the US is great and has a lot to offer but it can (for most people in general and immigrants in particular) also be extremely difficult and sometimes perceptions particularly among friends and relatives back home, are hard to overcome; as my wife says - a lot of Peruvians think the streets here are paved with gold and the money falls from the trees. That said, one of the biggest regrets for both my wife and I was taking our daughter out of a decent school in Peru and putting her in the public school system here. And yes, you can definitely do more there with the same amount of money and honestly, even though Lima is pretty crazy, I do miss it sometimes, as does my wife, especially her family. Funny, the other day I was ordering something for my mother-in-law from Oechsle and I suddenly had that "homesick" feeling, it was weird. Anyway, in the end, you and your family are the only ones that can make the decision but it's also important to address some of the other things like, if you did move back to Peru, would your job go back to allowing you to work remotely? and, would your husband be able to get his job back? You just don't want to end up going from bad to worse....In either case though, don't feel guilty or apologize and good luck with whatever you decide.

I'm sorry but this individual should be on a poster for "Unqualified Candidate" for any job but barista.

Ok. I've never been more convinced that this phone number and the IRS phone number all go to the same place. 🧐

I think what I would do in this case is try to combine your military book into one pdf and then using a pdf compression tool (if you didn't do this already) to reduce the file size (I did this for a bunch of my larger documents and it worked pretty good). However, if you can't, you can't. The IRS thing, First you have my sympathies-I'm still waiting for an amended return to process and its been 1 year and 2 months and it's still "processing." Second, I would upload a copy of the actual filed tax return in lieu of the transcript and maybe include a cover letter with a brief explanation along with your IRS letter (should be a 4883C Identity verification letter) all in the same pdf. If the IRS processes before your interview then you can add that as well but at least you've done what you could. In my experience, the IRS isn't going to move any faster no matter how many times you call. Good luck!

I did mine online in 2020 from Peru without any issues. As for the I-130A, I remember it was signed, scanned and uploaded somewhere in the evidence section, and yes as a pdf.

Funny, I had to search this guy up just to find out he was a Democrat. If it had been a Republican, the words "Republican" or "GOP" would've been squeezed right into the headline.

Yes, and it seems that the story is that every single visa holder that gets questioned is now "interrogated" and "treated like a criminal."

Man, they really had to crop that picture up nice and tight to avoid showing the other attendees that were, in fact, also wearing blue suits.

Oh you must be old school like me, pre Dept of Education, when a history/civics class was actually history/civics....