Demise

I'm actually amazed you managed to get anything by calling USCIS. VAWA privacy protections outright hide most information from the view of the call center employees, so they might see that it started in Vermont, but they generally won't see what happened to it down the line. That's also the reason why the standard operating procedure here has been to just ask a congressman/senator to inquire with USCIS on your behalf. Call center either won't see anything or won't see the whole picture of what's going on. VAWA units are also a black hole that in theory you can write to but they never respond on their own. 1. Not for VAWA. They (as in Vermont or Nebraska) generally will hold I-485 until the I-360 is approved, then pass it to the NBC which will do their own review and can RFE you, then they'll pass it to the local field office which can also RFE you, interview you, or both, and the field office will be the one to issue the ultimate decision on the I-485. 2. Depends. It could be just for medicals. If it's an old filing from back when I-944 was a thing then they could want an I-864W from you (RFE notice will be boilerplate for I-864 and sponsor's taxes, ignore that, fill out an I-864W and send that in instead). If there's any other concerns like arrests they could also ask for that. Basically we can guess, but you won't know until you see the notice. 3. Probably like a week or two. These things go by standard mail, so the closer you are to Lee's Summit, Missouri and the closer you are to a major city the sooner you should get it. If you don't get anything in 2 weeks then you should ask a congressman or senator to nudge them to re-send it or get you an electronic copy.

Looks like those things go to Lincoln, NE these days:

No. Cheapest solution here is: N-400 for wife ($710) US passport for stepson ($195 for booklet and card, I'd recommend getting both) I would also just recommend wife getting her passport at the same time too (another $195) but stepson is the only one who really needs it as proof of citizenship. Other than that, you do not need to do an N-600 or N-400 for the stepson if wife naturalizes while he's under 18.

Wife will file N-400 and naturalize. As long as the naturalization happens while he's under 18 he'll become a citizen by operation by law. Then you've got two options: 1. Your wife/stepson can file N-600 for a certificate of citizenship. 2. Your wife/stepson can apply for a US passport for him. The above are just to get proof of citizenship. If you are feeling financial strain then just get the US passport and if he needs the N-600 for a security clearance or something down the line he can handle it on his own. Other than that there's plenty of such derived citizens that just live perfectly fine with just a passport.

You might be able to contest it unless it did actually disinherit you (e.g. "to my wife Sharon I leave nothing"), especially if the marriage was entered into after the will was signed or if there's another later will created over in Honduras. But that's really a question better poised for an estate attorney rather than this site. We're here mostly for immigration aspects like if you wanted to get a widow petition, get a green card, and just keep on living in US. When it comes to the question you asked originally, I'll just restate what I said previously: US doesn't do any kind of recording, transfers, or legitimation of foreign marriages and just holds them valid as long as they don't violate US law. Similar should hold to any foreign will if there is one.

No, that would require an actual law to repeal it and all in all we're pretty low on the chopping block. VAWA reauthorization is more just re-funding the other parts of the law (DV shelters, etc). Immigration parts just exist separate from that and have no expiration date. For example, prior reauthorization expired on Feb 15, 2019 and wasn't reauthorized until March 15, 2022 (through FY2027, so current exp date is Oct 1, 2027). As you might tell from all the people here who filed sometime during that window (myself included), we were able to file it just fine. He can make other parts more annoying however. His former AG (Jeff Sessions) made terminating removal proceedings next to impossible which really delayed me in getting my own green card until Biden's AG (Merrick Garland) remembered that he's alive and overturned that decision. All in all I got delayed like almost 3 years because of that nonsense.

Yeah in this case you can do a single I-130 (F2A category will allow your stepson to tag along as a derivative). Note that if you naturalize before they're in US, the spouse will get upgraded to IR and the stepson will fall off. So if you are planning to naturalize before they'd immigrate, it might be a better idea to just file an I-130 for each. There's also some age considerations if the stepson was 18 or over at the time when you married or if you were to naturalize while he's over 21. If you married while he's over 18 then there's no stepparent-stepchild relationship between you two, and he's only able to tag along on the F2A as a derivative. CSPA allows one to count the time the I-130 was pending against age of the child in question (e.g. if it's pending 3 years, the priority date has to become current before he turns 24). Otherwise, if you naturalize while he's over 21 then as a F2A primary, he'd get downgraded to F1 because age at (step)parent's naturalization overwrites normal CSPA age. (As a derivative he'd just fall off regardless of age on account of wife being upgraded to IR which doesn't allow derivatives). If you naturalize while he's under 21, then he'd get upgraded to IR and would no longer be able to age out. Hopefully he's like 10 and this isn't a concern but it's better to just give this information in the event that it is applicable.

Well there's illegally because you entered without inspection, and there's illegally because you overstayed. In the latter case (overstay) at least OP should be able to file I-360 as a widow and adjust, provided it's been less than 2 years since spouse's death. In the former case (EWI) 204(l) should cover an I-601A provided OP has resided in US at the time of spouse's death and continues to reside in US. Proving bona fides might be harder depending on the circumstances since OP has said that they never lived together in US, however nothing in the law requires cohabitation specifically in US (like for example is a requirement for VAWA). Anyways OP, regarding estate law, US doesn't do any kind of registration of foreign marriages and basically just gives full faith and credit to foreign marriages as long as they're not prohibited under US law (e.g. polygamous marriages and you're the second or latter wife). So a translated Honduran marriage certificate is basically the document proving you're eligible to inherit from your late husband in absence of any will to the contrary.

I assume the kid immigrated as an IR2. Well first order of business is whether she's eligible for citizenship. For that you'd need to adopt her or for your wife to have naturalized. If wife's a citizen then you're good to go. In this case yeah you can apply. Things to submit are as follows (originals, will be returned later): 1. Wife's naturalization certificate or her US passport 2. Kid's passport with stamped immigrant visa 3. Kid's birth certificate with translation 4. Ideally some other proofs of physical custody (school records, vaccination records, etc). The birth certificate in this case handles the matters of custody since the father is a John Doe. If wife's not a citizen then well, kid isn't eligible for citizenship (and therefore a US passport) until wife naturalizes (before 18th birthday) or you adopt the kid (I believe before 16th birthday).

It's a bit complicated. Upon denial of I-485 you fall back onto the prior status. So if you have one that hasn't yet expired then you're good until that expires. If not then I-485 denial doesn't give you any kind of grace period. You are out of status as of the date of the denial, so if you want to cut your losses you should leave ASAP, however you do have 180 days to leave before re-entry bans kick in. Then when it comes to I-290B (motions to reopen or/and reconsider; I-485 normally doesn't let you file a direct appeal) it gets really messy since filing the form doesn't put you into period of authorized stay, however if that's approved and the I-485 gets approved then the period you were out of status just gets wiped. Similar with any kind of de novo review in removal proceedings. So if you are seeking adjustment in category where being out of status is not a concern (e.g. via marriage to a US citizen, either I-130 or I-129F), then it might be better to just file a new I-485 since that'd put you into another period of authorized stay unless removal proceedings were already initiated at the time. If not then only way to get AOS is to file the I-290B or fight it in court where you're not protected and if you lose on that then you'll get the re-entry ban on the way out.

Personally I'd do this through a senator/congressman. VAWA privacy protections make any kind of inquiries a mess. Though it also depends on where it went and what category it is, if it's a C10 (from COR) or C09 in removal proceedings then I think it might fall outside VAWA's privacy protections due to just going to a different place than the humanitarian units. Do you have any notice regarding it? Which office is listed on the bottom.

Reach out to your congressman/senator. It's possible the notice got lost in the mail or someone in USCIS screwed up and didn't process the I-765 or somehow misplaced it. Like all in all "issue or re-issue me a receipt notice" is not a huge ask. The receipt notice serves as an automatic extension for 540 days (has to be presented together with the EAD).

On 3.a. pick the fourth option "Adjustment of status from A, G, or NATO Nonimmigrant to Immigrant" because that's what you're doing. 3.b. leave blank or put in "N/A" as this question is applicable only for the first two options. First one is for when you move from some other non-immigrant status (e.g. F-1 student) to A/G/NATO. Second one is for when you move from A/G/NATO to some other non-immigrant status (e.g. into F-1 student). Third one is for when you give up permanent residence in US to instead take up diplomatic status (e.g. green card to A-1). Fourth one is for when you move from A/G/NATO to green card. (which is what you're doing). Fifth is Section 13, where you are applying for permanent residence in US because it's unsafe for you to return to the home country.

Actually original jurisdiction over I-751 always rests with USCIS. On denial and NTA that's where IJ can do a de novo review. https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-6-part-i-chapter-7 Looking at this all, OP seems to be finally doing the correct thing here because USCIS in general wants proof for the entire marriage when filing I-751 (and possibly outside of the periods, like dating before actually getting married or handling the late spouse's estate in widow(er) cases. To answer OP's questions: While you remain an LPR while the proceedings are pending and until you get actually ordered removed, personally I wouldn't risk it. Sure. Your first two denials seem like an issue of thin file. They might still RFE you for more where you'll want to get any circumstantial evidence, ordered late hubby something on Amazon, get the invoice and add that in. If kids are both yours and late husband's then DNA tests would be pretty good evidence since in general fake marriages won't produce kids (not saying they can't or that childless marriages are illegitimate, it's just what USCIS wants internally). USCIS won't take an N-400 from someone in removal proceedings outside of the 9th circuit. In any case approval of an N-400 with a pending I-751 hinges on the I-751. So you can't file N-400 to somehow sidestep an I-751 unless you join the military and naturalize via military service.

Honestly, the estimated processing times are just that, estimates to keep most people from calling in. They are also based on the current snapshot so there's no guarantee that it won't go up and your case inquiry date won't slide backward. Basically, for the most part it's it'll be done when it's done, and if it goes way over time estimates, that's when they finally relent and let you check in.