SansTortoise

On 9/30/2024 at 9:33 PM, Boiler said:

These seem to be Mean Tested benefits so with you in the picture as a Spouse they will need to be assessed and presumably many will go away.

Depends on mix of federal and state laws for who will be included. My advice would be to go to a local legal aid clinic and talk with a local attorney who is probably familiar with the requirements.

For my state, spouses are counted even if MFS on taxes and not living together. Other laws might be different. Local advice is needed.

This might be a case where it makes sense to do a K-1 for non-immigrantion reasons since that would exclude OP from the household until he at least moves here.

But I’d reiterate to talk to a local legal aid attorney so you get a better answer.

2 minutes ago, top_secret said:

 

Just a copy of the biographic page, certified by whatever agency that issued the passport.  

Cool, thanks. He’s visiting and we’re close to a consulate so just going to have the consulate do it while he’s here since it’s easier than getting it done by the issuing agency.

Just wasn’t clear as to if it was bio page or everything.

Called the IRS and asked several tax CPA friends who didn’t know the answer to this — for a certified passport copy when applying for an ITIN, does the IRS want every page certified or just the biographic details?

Called the IRS help line and the response was “the form instructions don’t say.”

14 hours ago, sozzani said:

Thank you for the reply, I am currently residing in Germany, and planning to move to US with my husband due to my husband's job relocation.. 

My husband's grandfather comes from Cuba so we visited Cuba as we were dating back in 2022 and now I'm worried that that might be a problem in our application..

 

 

Travel to Cuba is a reason to deny an ESTA application, not a visa. Mongolia isn’t a VWP country so not applicable to you.

Visiting Cuba for family reasons is allowed for US citizens: https://cu.usembassy.gov/services/traveling-to-cuba/

Don’t see why it’d cause a problem.

2 hours ago, OldUser said:

The stamp is proof of valid entry with inspection. I'd request it regardless of whether physical card arrives or not and keep it safe. You never know if you ever need to prove valid entry...

Good point. If the physical card arrives it’s a less urgent item, but getting it stamped is a positive regardless.

1 hour ago, flipicaneze said:

Thank you for the replies.

 

We looked throughout the whole passport and the only stamp was the green Philippines exit stamp.  The only information I have from research  is from lawyer office websites stating CBP are not stamping immigrant or citizen visa passports any longer due to trying to save time.

 

As I checked the status of her greencard, USCIS site says it's on the way as of 29th of August.  Hopefully it will be here on Tuesday and don't have to worry about it any longer.

Yeah, it doesn’t work like that even if your local immigration officer is lazy. If the actual green card doesn’t arrive Tuesday call your local CBP office and ask for an appointment to get it stamped. 

I’m not sure why you think this would be an issue. Probably happens thousands of times a day in lawyers offices around the U.S. for items related and unrelated to immigration.

K-1s and CR-1s take roughly the same amount of time these days.

1 minute ago, daigo1 said:

 

Oh, thank you. Didn't know that was a thing; I will look into it.

Link to CBP’s I-94 website: https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/#/home

10 hours ago, daigo1 said:

 

Any ideas other than the will? I'm not sure how to come up with travel documents if we drive to each other and we stay at each others' apartments whenever we visit. We are willing to record and submit videos detailing how we spend each day together via webcam but they do not accept video formats nor do I think they have the time to comb through thousands of hours worth of footage of just us talking about nonsense all day.

She can pull the log of every entry and exit from the U.S. on her passport from CBPs website. That’ll give you coverage from her end.

You’d need to send in a FOIA request to CBP for the equivalent on your U.S. passport. Probably worth doing in case you get an RFE, but I wouldn’t wait 10 months for their response.

6 minutes ago, OldUser said:

This evidence doesn't hurt any case. Anything can be questioned, but usually it doesn't. It's recommended by immigration lawyers.

 

I agree, school records / paystubs are even better.

 

 

 

Yeah, that’s fair. It doesn’t hurt, but I’d definitely want to include items that show you were physically here as well. If they’re easily accessible always best to include the stronger evidence.

38 minutes ago, yangshang0 said:

I meet the requirement because I always been living and working in the US. My wife is living abroad while waiting for the I-130 to be processed. I go to her respective country to visit her once a year during my vacation time.
Can my tax return be the proof for physically present in the US?

University or other school transcripts usually are the easiest. University transcript (if you went to a 4 year school) plus a letter from your employer stating you’ve been working for the company for X years while physically in Y location should be sufficient. If you’ve been working for the same employer 5 years or more that’s probably enough — can include a sampling of paystubs as well. High school transcripts are even stronger proof than university since there aren’t all that many international virtual U.S. high schools.

I’d stay away from tax returns, voter registrations, etc. you can be registered to vote and file taxes with a US mailing address not in the U.S. (plenty do.) It’s hard to be physically enrolled to attend a U.S. university or high school virtually. Same with work: your employer saying they’ve seen you regularly for 5 years within the U.S. is pretty hard to question.

Other things you can include are: rental agreements, utility bills, paystubs, etc.

Basically any of the “daily life” things your local DMV will count as proof of residency for a Real ID purposes will help.

2 hours ago, yangshang0 said:

I am a USC and already filed I130 for my wife in 2023 and she is currently live seperately where I live in the US and she live in her respective country.  Her petition has not approved yet, we are still waiting. Now, she is pregnant and expected to deliver our child next month. I was wondering after the child is born should I file another I130 form or should I just contact consulate and file CRBA?

Born in wedlock to a U.S. citizen and alien:

“For birth on or after November 14, 1986, the U.S. citizen parent must have been physically present in the United States or one of its outlying possessions for five years prior to the person’s birth, at least two of which were after the age of 14.” (From the link above)

So long as you meet those requirements the child is a U.S. citizen and you can request a CRBA.

If he has a firm job offer you could potentially use direct consular filing, which is faster. Otherwise, it’s around a 2 year wait.

20 minutes ago, TiffAndMike said:

Depending on how long you are staying and how much money you bring, it very well may be necessary to say "boyfriend ". 

 

The first time my husband came to visit me, he brought $400 in cash plus an additional $800 on his card. Initially he told them he was staying with "a friend". Due to the length of his stay (almost 3 months), they did not believe he had significant money to support himself for the duration of the stay.

 

He was taken into a room for additional screening.  They would not let him use his phone to contact me while I was standing there in the airport, waiting for him in arrivals. He finally snuck out his other phone and texted me to let me know "They won't let me in" while the officer was out of the room. 

 

I was freaking out, he was freaking out. 

 

Finally 30 minutes later, the officer called me and started asking me questions. I told them he was my boyfriend and he was staying with me and that I had him covered financially. 

 

10 minutes later, they let him in. They had him detained for an hour and a half.

 

He is from a low-risk country as well.

 

The second time he came here, when we were getting married,  he told them he was here to visit his girlfriend. He had NO  problems getting in.

Yeah, that makes sense. A lot of this depends on context.
 

My general advice is more of: don’t volunteer more than asked. If they don’t ask who you’re staying with (they might not), no need to tell them. If they ask, truthfully answer that it’s the significant other. 

10 hours ago, mglev said:

This is all good to know, I was hoping that since the US and Chile have a pretty strong relationship from what I hear, that would help things go a bit smoother upon POE.  I think it makes sense to just have her say she's here for vacation which is the truth, and if prompted she could say she'll be staying with me and if ultimately necessary to disclose the marriage plan, having something prepared if they question her intent to stay or not.  Are there any things in particular when it comes to showing strong ties that people would recommend, or have any experience showing?  I imagine paystubs or some other documentation about current work status or her apartment lease/etc. would be helpful, but anything outside the box that would be beneficial to have prepared?  As I mentioned in my original post, she has a cat, she has friends and family here, she also just recently got her Master's degree in the country.  I just want to make sure we can be exhaustive for whatever might help convince an agent at the POE that she doesn't intend to stay here.  I do appreciate all the information so far, it's been very reassuring to hear!

Your plan is fine and isn’t lying or misrepresentation. WT class admission only has two options for purpose of travel “tourism” or “business” and answering one of those to the initial question is common and expected, especially from a country with lower English levels. Tell the truth to anything asked and never lie, but keep the answers short and factual if there are any questions.

Have her bring the Liquidación del Sueldo, a rental agreement, and if she’s taking vacation days any approval form (licencia or permiso) showing the days requested off. If there’s a work contract that might help too. Obviously the return ticket as well.

If she’s entering via Dulles or BWI (saw you’re from MD) there’s a high chance the only thing they ask her for is a picture and just input tourist without even asking her a question. Copa and Avianca service the SCL->IAD and SCL->BWI routes so most others on the plane will be from high overstay risk countries if she arrives on one of those flights. CBP does tend to focus their attention based on API data. They already know who they want to talk to beforehand, so there’s no reason to be worried.

6 hours ago, coffee_joy said:

I am not going to have the documents translated in the US, I will have them translated in my own country.

 

In this case just the translation would be enough - without notarizing and putting an apostille?

 

 

You’re also allowed to translate yourself and self-certify if your English and non-English language levels are sufficiently high.

8 hours ago, TiffAndMike said:

When they ask her what her reason is for coming to the states, all she has to tell them is that she is visiting her boyfriend. There is no need to offer up additional information.  

 

if she is coming here for a longer period of time, like 80 or 90 days, then they might take her in for another screening.  If the visit is about 5 weeks, she should be able to pass right on through.  

 

As long as she goes back after the marriage and you go through consular processing, getting married on a ESTA is perfectly legal. 

 

My husband and I got married on his ESTA and I spoke with several attorneys before doing this. 

I wouldn’t even say “boyfriend” unless prompted. It’s a vacation and there likely will be no follow-up if that’s the answer. If they ask who OP is staying with, etc. then it can be brought up, but an initial visit to the U.S. on ESTA from a low-risk country doesn’t need details beyond one word (“vacation”) in most cases.

Chileans entering on ESTA tend to have zero questions asked because low risk country and the CBP officer assumes they don’t speak English, and they tend to arrive on flights that have people from high risk countries so CBP has better things to do with their time.
 

If asked why she’s here she can honestly answer “vacation”, since that is true, and the officer won’t ask a follow-up. She is not required to volunteer that one of the activities she will be doing during her vacation is getting married.

All the other advice here is true about showing intent to return, etc. if marriage comes up, but given the fact pattern I would be shocked if any question was asked at all.

My advice would be to have all the paperwork needed to show connection to Chile, but to be surprised if the CBP officer speaks more than once during the entire interaction.

23 minutes ago, Family said:

Yes and No. 

‘I relied on legal counsel “ will NOT absolve an applicant of ANY misrep, under ANY circumstances as it relates to USCIS/DOS. 
 

OP s case, we all “know” he was advised by his attorney to make a claim of INTENT TO RE ESTABLISH Domicile….or that attorney took his $$ for nothing. 
 

The consensus of responses on the thread are pretty spot on . .

Yes, we agree. Though I’d add: someone innocently says something wrong vs. is defrauding the government is a judgement call on behalf of the government, and acting on advice in good faith can help show it wasn’t fraud, but a misunderstanding of the law rather than a misrepresentation of facts.
 

Which is why I think OP should have a heart-to-heart with their counsel taking into account all they’ve learned today and move from there.

4 minutes ago, Family said:

However, OP s actions /statements do not constitute fraud….just confusion. 

Yes, this is my point. “I applied for the incorrect visa because my lawyer told me to and was completely honest throughout the process” is neither fraud nor misrepresentation.

People are being overly harsh on OP here, even if on substance they’re correct that IR-1 doesn’t seem to match OP’s goals.

13 minutes ago, SalishSea said:

“I relied on legal counsel” will absolutely not cut it when it comes to misrepresentation and fraud with USCIS/Department of State.   The petitioner/beneficiary is 100% responsible for the accuracy of the contents of their forms.

There’s a difference between making sure the form is accurate and relying on legal counsel to tell you what the law is.
 

Obviously OP needs to be completely honest with both their counsel and the CO, but given that an interview has been scheduled they should be asking their lawyer how to act given the (valid) concerns raised here and how far along they are in the process. They should also feel comfortable relying on their lawyer’s legal advice. They’ve paid for the legal advice. They should use it given the concerns.

Since you’ve already retained legal counsel, I’d have this conversation with them, and do what they tell you. They’re more familiar with the facts of your case than us, and unlike members of this forum if anything goes wrong, “I relied upon the advice of counsel” is something the government recognized as a defense.

Did she sign any form to abandon her green card or did the green card physically expire (I.e. it’s past the date printed on the physical card)? Or are you just assuming it’s invalid because of the 12 month rule?

Asking because CBP has been known to use discretion around the 12 month rule even without a re-entry permit, but a lot depends on the exact circumstances. If it’s not expired and she didn’t sign it away/an immigration judge didn’t revoke it, it might be worth talking to a lawyer to see what they think the best option is.

2 minutes ago, Barson said:

Do you get the CR1 visa from the embassy? 
 

I thought you would get the stamped visa at the point of entry?

 

thanks both for the reply

The CR-1 visa is the document fixed in your passport by the embassy or consulate that gives you permission to seek admission to the United States as an immigrant at a port of entry.

Said in layman’s terms: its permission for you to get in the plane.