Drew3435

It's possible I may end up moving just before / during the interview as well. My landlord is raising rent and there are some much larger and nicer apartments that are very close to the new rent. A wash really. Any advice for if I move? My lease expires the end of March. I would likely sign a new one this weekend or early next week and then move over the next week and until the end of March.

Unfortunately I won't have a paystub from the new job yet. I am literally starting the day before her interview. She will have her interview as I am getting done my first day. I will still have paystubs coming in from the old job that week. I'm considering asking them to push my start date back a week. Really don't want to miss out on the opportunity though.

It's W2. I only do 1099 work for side jobs.

I failed to mention, I work in tech. This is a contract to hire role where I would be working for a well established tech recruiting / staffing / contracting company. My current role is through a similar company but has been ongoing for over 5 years. There is language in the contract discussing the "temporary assignment" nature of the work. It's a standard contract they use for all of their workers. The end client wants to convert me in 6-12 months. This is a common way to hire people in tech. Do you think this will cause any issues with the interview?

Hello. Through a series of weird timing, it's possible I will be starting a new job the day before my wife's interview. Will this cause any issues and do I need to re-file any paperwork? If I can push it back a week is that beneficial? Either way, I should still have recent paystubs from my current job when she has her interview. I don't want to pass on a job opportunity, but this is a long process and I do not want to mess it up by switching jobs at the last minute. Your guidance is appreciated.

Thanks. That is what I provided. Given the timing I am not sure if the transcript for 2024 will be available yet. I should have checked the forums sooner. I would have filed first thing. To be honest I was planning to file an extension so my wife could be here to file with me. Stinks.

Wow that is wild. Question for you. Do you know if IRS tax transcripts are acceptable, or do they want the 1040 used when filing my taxes?

Thanks for your reply. That is the exact dollar amount she referenced. 1000 PHP. I will make sure I am on standby in case they require a new document. Hopefully they will not since nothing will have changed by then. I am glad her uploading more docs won't cause any issues. I know she will feel better if she uploads more docs. She is under the impression they will want my 2024 tax transcript. Do you think I should just go ahead and file before the interview? Or will the most recent year (2023) be sufficient?

Thanks for your reply. She said these other people reported they were forced at the embassy to pay money to upload those documents during the interview. Nothing has changed financially. Her interview is before the 2024 filing deadline. If it won't affect the case, I'll just tell her to upload whatever she wants. It may help with her anxiety about it. My fear was that it could somehow trigger a review / delay the interview.

Hello, My wife is part of Facebook groups and group chats related to immigration. The is in the Philippines. I recently discovered that she has uploaded additional documents to the NVC portal after they had scheduled her interview with the embassy. The case was documentary qualified and sent over to the Manila embassy. Her interview is in about a month. She has since uploaded an "advisory on marriage" and an updated police clearance, even though the original was still good (valid for 6 months). I discovered this after she sent me some documents insisting I had to upload them. My understanding was that once NVC sends it to the embassy, we are done with NVC. We should just bring the originals of what we already uploaded plus anything in the required documents list to the interview. I even saw on the state department site where it said not to upload an updated police clearance to the NVC portal https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-10-prepare-for-the-interview.html . Can you folks confirm that this is misinformation? Or that she is right and I am wrong? Is her uploading new documents putting the case at risk? I'm struggling to accept what she is saying because of what it says on the website regarding these steps. She rebuts with "but they actually went through this" and states that others were forced to go outside and upload these missing documents at the interview. at a cost of 1000 PHP per document. Thank you.

Hello. VJ is showing my approval is now past due. I had two missed calls on October 5th from Private Number. They were blocked and I didn't notice them. I was expecting that if/when they did call it would come from a 202 area code number. My case still shows 4 months estimate in the portal. I have heard they will put minimal effort into contacting you and then just close the case out due to being unreachable. I tried calling in but it won't send me to an agent, and the portal says I can't send a message to check on case status. Was this USCIS trying to get in touch? Will they send correspondence through the portal or mail before closing the petition out? Is there anything I can / should do proactively? Thanks.

Nope. It was just a regular job. No idea why they would look that far back.

Sure as heck seems like it.

Yeah I know what you mean. I am starting to worry a little because it seems to deviate from the norm. Maybe they found some perceived issue.

To make it even weirder, I went back and checked the i-130. I didn't list this employer because I stopped working there more than 5 years prior to submitting the application.

I am the petitioner. It definitely seems they contacted them. It is written as a response to a query and provides the dates I worked there any my salary. It is in the work number website so maybe USCIS made the request from there. It is dated today.

Well the good news is, it looks like there is some movement. It just changed from 24 months to 4 months. And it looks like they reached out to one of my former employers. I saw a letter to them from the employer in theworknumber website dated today. Here is hoping.

I hear you. It's just a little challenging psychologically to see that happen. For me, the last time it reset to 24 months it just came down at a normal rate. One money at a time.

I hope you are right. I am hopeful the fact that we filed jointly and paid taxes on her income will help make the case that our marriage is bonified. It's funny, whenever I see or hear that word, bonified, I think of that scene from O Brother Where Art Thou, where the lady says that her other suiter is bonified.

Hello. I know timelines in the USCIS portal are supposed to be unreliable. But every time I upload unsolicited evidence, they reset my estimated time to decision to 24 months. The last thing I uploaded was a joint tax return. Are they punishing me for making more work for them or something? I don't do this frequently. I've uploaded evidence maybe 4 times in the last year.

Thanks for this background. You summed things up pretty well. Her English is pretty good, probably above average compared to her peers there. We do not have much difficulty communicating. I was just concerned that if it were conducted in English, she could end up "yeah"ing to something really important. Her written English is excellent. She is highly educated and has a very good job there. I didn't mean to imply that she can't communicate with me. Just worried about the outlier situation where it could complicate her immigration. I do plan to learn Filipino language when I have the bandwidth to take some courses. I definitely do not wan to put this all on her.

Thanks for the tip. She will likely fly into JFK since I am in the Philly area, and there is a direct non-stop flight from Manila to JFK. I may just go to pick her up and fly back with her to make the process easier.

That is great news! Thanks!

Thanks everyone for the clarifications. I have a better understanding now of this topic.

Hi folks, This is a long way off. But I like to plan things out in advance. My wife's English is passable, but she does yeah me a lot. When I was there, I found communicating a little more difficult than I thought it would be. There were clear situations where she would nod or affirmatively respond, but it was clear she didn't know what I was asking. It is a difficult subject to approach with her because she seems almost offended if I raise anything about our communications / her English speaking skills. My question is, should I insist on hiring a translator to go to the interview with her? Just in case? Her interview will be in Manila. Maybe their Filipino will be sufficient to not require one? I just want to make sure there are no issues that reset her immigration process once we get to that point. Any guidance is appreciated. Thanks, Drew