maryam9824

Hello, I'm almost finished preparing our form I-130 application, so I wanted to share what I have so far to get any feedback from the community here. I will be submitting the form I-130 online along with the scanned I-130a in PDF format. To prove my U.S. citizenship, I will be providing scanned copies of all passport pages. And I will also include the 2 passport-style photos. So far we have the following: - Our marriage certificate along with an authentication certificate - Photographs together throughout from when we first met in 2021 until after we got married in 2024 (including Facetime screenshots, my visits to him, photos with family, wedding photos, our trip after we got married) - Our WhatsApp messages from 2021 until 2024. I included 1 screenshot with the date & time stamp from about every month with translations below each screenshot. I also included a notarized certificate of translation. - Evidence of travel. I included stamps and boarding passes to show my visits to him in 2022 & 2024 and our trip together after we got married. That is pretty much all we have. I know the officers will understand that since we currently live in separate countries, we won't have evidence showing a joint lease and/or combined financial resources. But I still am wondering if our evidence is too little. I wanted to include an affidavit letter from my sister, but I keep seeing mixed answers online. Some recommend adding it anyway, but others recommend against it because anyone can write an affidavit letter and it doesn't really prove anything. If you have any suggestions on how I can further strengthen our evidence documents or any feedback, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you

Okay I will Insha'Allah. That's good to hear. Thank you, walaal!

Okay will do! Thank you for your help. I have another question for you regarding the employment section of form i-130a. My husband has been self-employed as an online tutor since October 1st, 2021. He has worked remotely from Somalia, Kenya, and is currently living in Malaysia. I want to clarify how to handle the employer's address section. Should I list his current home address in Malaysia, or is it better to write 'N/A' since his work is location-independent? Also, I plan to include a brief explanation in the additional info section. Does this look okay, or would you suggest any changes? "The beneficiary has been self-employed as an online tutor since October 1st, 2021. He has lived and worked remotely from Somalia, Kenya, and is currently residing in Malaysia. The address listed is his current home address in Malaysia." I thought this may be more straightforward instead of listing self-employed multiple times for different locations.

Ok I will do that for the certificate number. As for the A number, I have my old green card with the number on it. Should I write it anyway or should I just write none since it isn’t active ? also for the copy of the U.S. passport, should I scan just the first page with my photo or all the pages with stamps/ visas? Thank you!

Okay I will! I will get back to you if I have any more questions. Thank you so much for all your help! I truly appreciate all the time you take to answer my questions. I also was meaning to ask you 2 quick questions about the form I-130 if you don’t mind. 1. Do I need to list my A number if I became a U.S. citizen? I became a citizen through my mom when I was under 18 and the green card expired years ago. I was thinking of writing N/A since it is expired but some sources say the A number stays with you for life even if you become a citizen. 2. For the part about how I derived citizenship, I selected through parents. It is asking if I have a certificate of naturalization or citizenship number, but I don’t have either. Some sources are saying I may need to request it from the government. Can I just prove my citizenship through my us passport and write “n/a” for both? Would I need to add my mom’s naturalization certificate? Thank you!

If we don't get it, what are some steps we can take? Thanks

By ask for it, do you mean ask for a police certificate anyway?

On the website, it says "Malaysia will not issue police certificates for applicants that are not permitted status in Malaysia. This includes refugee applicants if their status in Malaysia is not permitted". Does a pending status count as a permitted status? Should I email the embassy? If he is unable to get a police certificate, can we write a letter saying he was unable to because of pending status?

Wow that is so interesting! I had no idea addresses like that existed in the US. Good to know Yeah he would return to his home country after most of the travels and most of the travels were visits. So I'm thinking of writing his address in Somalia until 12/23, then kenya for 7 months, then malaysia currently. I was just confused because some places were saying to list all addresses even if they were for a few weeks, but it doesn't make sense to list vacations. What do you think about that? Would they compare his passport stamps to what's listed on the form I-130A? Then it would show he went to more places. As for the addresses without a formal street number and name, is it okay if I put "N/A" in the street number and name section and then write in the additional information section " the beneficiary lives in a home without a formal street number and name". For his home country address, there aren't many landmarks or descriptive ways to explain the home address as you did in your example. Thank you! Your comments are very helpful. I appreciate it.

I'm assuming police certificates can be obtained by non-locals/non-residents? hopefully

Hi, My question is about how to best list multiple addresses for my spouse on form I-130A. For context, he has traveled to many different places in the last 5 years and some of them are less than 6 months. For I-130a, should i list all of them or just the ones that are over 6 months and his current address? I will list the places and durations below. I highlighted the ones that are over 6 months. I read online that it can lead to an RFE if there are any gaps in the address history, but I also read that vacations and short-term stays aren't necessary to list. I want to be as transparent and clear as possible about everything, but I also don't want to list too many details that aren't needed. Here is the travel history: Somalia (2 years & 10 months): 01/05/2019 - 11/08/2021 Turkey (~ 3 months): 11/09/2021 - 02/04/2022 Kenya ( ~ 7 months): 02/05/2022 - 09/16/2022 Somalia ( ~ 8 months): 09/17/2022 - 05/15/2023 Turkey ( ~ 2 months): 05/16/2023 - 07/18/2023 Somalia (~ 1 month): 07/19/2023 - 08/14/2023 Uganda ( ~ 3.5 months) : 08/15/2023 - 12/02/2023 Kenya ( ~ 7 months): 12/04/2023 - 07/01/2024 Malaysia: 07/02/2024 - Present Also for some of the places he lived in, there is no formal street number and name. For that, should I write in the box "N/A" or "No formal street number and name". Would I need to explain that in the additional information section or is that sufficient? Thank you for taking the time to read this! I appreciate it.

Thank you for your answer! Yes his status is pending because they gave him a reference number after the initial registration. Hopefully that is ok? I was just concerned about getting the police certificates during the NVC stage and if that affects the process. If his case with the UNHCR is still pending when we reach the interview stage, does that mean he can't interview there? Thank you! That's good to hear! Thanks

yes I think so

Hello! I’m a US citizen in the process of preparing the I-130/I-130a forms to petition for my husband in Malaysia. My question is: Does having refugee status and/or an expired tourist visa affect the CR1 visa application during consular processing in Malaysia? Our story: My husband and I met in March 2021 and got married in February 2024. He traveled to Malaysia on a tourist visa in July 2024 to apply for refugee status, as it is not safe for him to reside in Somalia. His refugee status application is still pending, as he has not yet had an interview with the UNHCR. We are planning to file the I-130 application soon. I would like to know if his pending refugee status and expired tourist visa will affect his visa application when the case is sent for consular processing. We have evidence to prove our bona fide marriage, including photos together, my visits to him, trips taken after our wedding, WhatsApp chat logs, FaceTime screenshots, and an affidavit letter of support. Thank you!