SJinCA

The I-130 (the first step in the CR1 process) does ask for the beneficiary's passport information, but this is only necessary if you've ever traveled to the United States. The I-130 instructions from USCIS state: Passport and Travel Document Numbers. Complete Part 4., Item Numbers 45. - 50., as applicable, if the beneficiary relative used a passport or travel document to travel to the United States, enter the passport or travel document information in the appropriate space on the petition, even if the passport or travel document is currently expired. So, if you've ever traveled to the U.S. for any reason, be sure to include that information, otherwise, it's not necessary. Like @Crazy Cat mentioned, you don't need to have a passport until you get to the visa stage. If Italy doesn't allow you to keep your old passport once you renew it, it would be a good idea to scan the bio page of your current passport before you renew for documentation purposes. Good luck!

I'm sorry you're having such a difficult time. I'm sure you're already familiar with this, but keep in mind that Russian culture is very patriarchal. There is a strong social expectation that the man should be the breadwinner and provider in a relationship, much more so than in American culture. I'm sure being unable to fulfill that role and being financially reliant on you, even temporarily, is deeply emasculating to him, which, along with the stress of relocating to a foreign country and adjusting to a new way of life, is probably taking a toll on his mental health. At the same time, from your description, he's responding to that stress in an unacceptable way. Don't think about it as a response to your own inadequacies; nobody is perfect, thinking about what you could have done differently will only cause you more anguish, and nobody deserves to be berated by their partner like that. I won't presume to tell you what decisions you should make about your relationship, though I think it's perfectly understandable if/that you're having second thoughts due to this kind of treatment. You deserve better than that, just because you are you. I echo what others have said in that you two need to work on your communication. Try to communicate from a place of self: it's not so much about what your partner is doing or saying, it's about how you feel. It's not, "you have unreasonable expectations," (though I don't disagree with that statement, based on what you've shared), it's "when you criticize me, it makes me feel like you don't see and appreciate my efforts and it makes me feel inadequate." "When you say/do X, it makes me feel Y because Z" is a great formula to follow. Some practical advice: - It sounds like you are both operating under some misconceptions about SSNs. I would sit down, together, and do some research, plot out what the rest of the journey is going to look like, and make a to-do list for the big immigration / documentation milestones. - California must have a decent-sized Russian community, have you or your husband thought about getting in touch with someone? That would certainly help with the social isolation at least, and might make things logistically easier if you can make some good connections.

How old is the child, and how long have they been in your legal/physical custody?

I'm submitting this affidavit as a supplement to "real" evidence. I have a lease agreement, something about contract law in Uzbekistan means that only one party (other than the landlord) can sign a lease, so my wife's name isn't on the contract. I'm having my landlord confirm that we live there together. Thank you for sharing!

I'm an anxious person and I figure better safe than sorry as far as immigration is concerned. Thank you for the reassurance.

Hello all! I'm hoping for some advice as to whether it's acceptable to draft a sworn statement on someone else's behalf for them to sign. I currently live with my spouse in their home country and we're preparing to submit our I-130 petition. Part of the evidence I plan to include is our 2023-24 lease agreement, current lease, and a sworn statement from our landlord that spouse and I live together. I need to include the latter because I'm the only one listed on the lease, not my spouse. To save our landlord the hassle, and to make sure all the necessary information is included, I was planning to draft a statement for them, give them the chance to review it, and have them sign and notarize it if everything is acceptable to them. Is it acceptable to draft a statement for someone else like this, or is that a no-no? I understand in principle it might seem suspicious, but it seems like, as long as the party making the statement has knowledge of and swears to the truthfulness of the information within the statement, it shouldn't be a problem.

Thank you both for the advice!

Hello all! I have a question as to what extent minor variations in transliteration from languages that don't use the Latin script are tolerated. My wife's documents are mostly in Uzbek (written in Cyrillic script) and/or Russian. The problem is, there are inconsistencies in how Uzbek/Russian are transliterated from Cyrillic to Latin. Her given name is commonly transliterated two different ways, same for her patronymic (more or less her middle name), and her maiden name can be transliterated at least three different ways. I'm mainly concerned with how my wife's maiden name is given on our marriage certificate. She has always preferred to write her maiden name in Latin script a certain way, for example, as her e-mail address. However, her maiden name is given (in Latin script) with a different transliteration on our marriage certificate. The translation service we're using has transliterated it in my wife's preferred style in our certified translation. In short, her maiden name is given one way in Latin script on the document itself, and another way in our translation. It's only a difference of one letter, but that is the initial letter, if that makes a difference. The same issue applies to her patronymic, which is transliterated two different ways in both her passport and on our marriage certificate. Again, it's a difference of only one letter, that letter being the initial letter. In both cases, the variation is close enough that I think it would be intuitively understood by someone who doesn't understand the context (K vs. Q and U vs. O), but it sill worries me. Is this likely to be an issue, or does USCIS generally tolerate this kind of variation? I want to stick to one standard, but it's difficult due to the fact that her name (at least her patronymic) is spelled differently in her passport and on our marriage certificate. Would it be prudent to list all possible transliterations in the "beneficiary's name" section of the I-130, or would that just add confusion to the mix? Very grateful for any guidance you might be able to provide, and feel free to ask for follow-up if I haven't been clear enough.

Hello all! I'm hoping for some advice regarding the proof of relationship I plan to submit for my spouse's I-130 petition. For context, we've been legally married for just over a year now, we currently live together in spouse's home country (where our marriage took place) and plan to do so until they receive their visa. Here's what I'm currently planning on submitting as evidence: Copy of marriage certificate with certified English translation Evidence of living together: lease from Aug 2023-Jul 2024 and current lease, along with a sworn statement from our landlord that spouse and I live together at the property (I'm only including the latter because my spouse isn't listed on the lease, only me) Evidence of comingled finances: most recent CC statement which shows spouse as an authorized user Evidence of international travel together on several occasions, consisting of passport stamps, airline ticket stubs, and hotel reservations Collection of ~30 pictures of us together at various points in our relationship, including pictures documenting that we've both met each other's parents/family I was also planning to ask two of my close friends, both of whom have met spouse in-person and one of whom attended our wedding reception, to prepare a sworn statement that our relationship is genuine. However, I understand that these types of affidavits are generally considered among the weakest evidence. Given what we already have, do you think these would be unnecessary, or would it be beneficial to include them anyways? It certainly can't hurt to do so, right? I also know that many people submit chat logs with their spouse as evidence. My spouse and I text in a mix of English and their native language, and it would be tedious to not only collect the necessary screenshots, but to then translate them, let alone pay a third party to do so and provide a certified translation. Would this help our application, or do you think the evidence listed above (with or without statements from friends) would get the job done?

Thank you for the advice! And apologies for the hijacking.

Kind of unrelated to the topic at hand, apologies for changing the subject, but could I ask you to elaborate on "keeping your I-130 petition in stasis indefinitely"? Is there no set period within which you have to submit your immigrant visa application after your I-130 petition is approved? My spouse and I are currently living abroad and are unsure of when exactly we will relocate to the U.S. I haven't filed our I-130 yet for this reason, on the assumption that we would need to be ready to relocate ~2 years from when we file. Do you mean that we could take some time before proceeding with the NVC stage once the I-130 is approved?

Hello all, I'm getting ready to submit our I-130 petition for my spouse. We're currently living together in their home country and intend to do so until they receive their CR/IR-1 visa. We've traveled internationally together several times both before and after we were legally married, so I'm planning to submit scans of our passport stamps as proof of our relationship. I just had a few questions in the hope someone might have some useful advice: In addition to our travel together, we've both traveled internationally separately, for work and leisure. Should I include scans of all passport stamps over the course of our relationship, including solo travel, or is this unnecessary? Should I just go ahead and scan our entire passports, or would this be excessive? I recently renewed my passport from abroad and still have my old passport, as my then-current visa was in my old passport. (I've since been issued a new visa in my current passport.) Some of the passport stamps I plan to submit, as well as previous visas demonstrating my continuous residence in spouse's home country, are in my old passport. I plan to submit scans of the bio pages for both passports, as well as the confirmation letter I received from the Consular Section when I received my new passport which includes both passport numbers. Will this be too confusing? Should I include a written statement explaining all this? Thank you for any advice you can offer!

My spouse and I currently live together in her home country (Uzbekistan). We plan to get her LPR via consular processing and live here together in the meantime. My spouse has never been to the U.S. before, I have some family obligations (a family reunion and a wedding) back home this summer, so I thought this would be a great opportunity for her to visit and meet my extended family. Given her nationality, she needs a visa, and I thought we had a compelling-enough story to overcome the presumption of immigrant intent (at least at this particular time). Apparently not. She just had her visa interview and was rejected due to a failure to demonstrate nonimmigrant intent. As soon as the consular officer learned her spouse is a USC, the interview was over. Apparently our documents from relatives showing we have a specific reason for a temporary visit, our documents from work showing that we both have permanent employment here, and visa from previous trips to Europe, weren't enough to satisfy them. How am I supposed to maintain my family ties while living abroad if that means choosing between visiting my family, or being with my wife? I had also put off filing her I-130 in the (mistaken) belief that it would harm her (apparently already doomed) application for a nonimmigrant visa. Visa waiver is not an option given her nationality. Are we basically just screwed in terms of being able to visit the U.S. together until her IR1 visa comes through? I'm just so frustrated right now and not sure what other options we have.