caeremonarius

Again, the AP is irrelevant once the OP's wife is approved for her GC. GC holders can't use an AP to re-enter the country. That's what the GC is for! At our interview, we were told specifically NOT to use the AP if we planned on leaving the country before receiving the physical GC. If we needed to leave the country, we were told to get the I-551 stamp (which, again, is the same thing as a GC) by making an Infopass appointment, showing our plane tickets and explaining the situation.
As Jim and others suggested above (and as I recommended in my previous post), the OP's best bet is, if the interview goes well and the IO recommends for approval, explain the situation, show your plane ticket and ask for an I-551 stamp. AP and I-94 aren't relevant if your wife is considered a GC holder after the interview.
Good luck!
AJ

If you're recommended for approval at interview, you can ask for an I-551 stamp. You can even explain the situation and show the ticket. My wife's grandmother is 93 years old, and right after our interview, we asked IO about returning to Spain if something were to happen to her (grandma) before getting the physical GC. Our attorney said we'd be able get the I-551 (which is the SAME THING as a physical GC) if we showed our ticket and explained the situation at an Infopass appointment.
The points above are well taken, though. Don't leave without the physical GC or stamp in your passport. The AP is no longer valid if the GC is approved, so it can't be used to enter the States. I wouldn't trust the mail or any carrier with the GC. The only situation I can think of where I'd have let my wife leave without her GC before getting it would have been if I would have followed her immediately with the GC.
Good luck!
AJ

I think you will have to wait until you go to the airport and check in there. I think someone has to actually look at the visa, since you don't have ESTA. You shouldn't need ESTA though, since you have a K1. I have had flights before where online check-in was not allowed, but it was never a problem at the airport. I am not certain of this, but I think you will be okay. Also, your return ticket is fine. People enter on a K1 all the time with a return ticket because it is often cheaper than a one-way, so that will not cause a problem. Your return flight will still be valid. You probably already know this, but you need to file for AP right after your wedding if you are planning on going back to Germany in August. It takes 2-3 months to get it, and if you go without it, you will not be let back in to the States. BPO might ask about the return flight at POE.
I'm so excited for you! Have a safe journey!

His permanent residence is canceled on the day his green card expired. They can also begin removal proceedings to deport him. You can file his ROC late, as long as you can convince USCIS that there was a compelling reason which was beyond your control for filing late. I suggest you get this done ASAP.

Your husband is always the sponsor no matter how much he made. You need a COSPONSOR. Both will fill out the I-864.

A resident is a resident.... If you are a resident of the USA and you need no other visa's to come and go. You can attend school. The only issue is based on the school you choose, do you meet the individual STATE's residency requirements for determination of in-state versus out-of-state tuition fees, if applicable

The SS card goes into a dark box and probably never has to come out again. I have not shown my SS card in 20 years, not even once, and I opened bank accounts, studied at UCLA, got plenty of credit cards, two commercial real estate loans, married, and everything in between. All that's needed is the number, which your husband should memorize anyway.
Therefore, there is also no SS card required to get a credit card. What's required is the number. Again, the number lives in your husband's brain. If not, have him write it down, 100 times, 100 days in a row. If he can't remember it by then, divorce him.
For that very reason, it doesn't matter what's written on the SS card, even if it's the phone number of an old girlfriend. If he ever needed to show his card, he would also have to show his EAD or Green Card, both of which are in fact the documents giving DHS authorization to work. So it's a non-issue to begin with, but if your hubby is bored and loves to sit at the SSA, he can get a card without writing on it.
Only to put it into the dark box to be never seen again.

Well if you get an automated system, you don't necessarily get a problem free system, you just get a whole new set of problems to overcome. What seems to be the biggest problem with USCIS and the Consulate system is the lack of a knowledgeable person when an issue arises and a path to correct the issue. Creating more technological barriers might not be the answer, or less people in employed positions to deal with them.
If everything is online when the systems locks up, melts down or there are internet issues processing stops. Not sure that is desirable either. What about when the system "deletes" your entire file? What then, do you start all over?
I do think it is possible for the USCIS to scan and upload the packet and that would cut down on the amount of mailing files anywhere. I also think having Alien files in a central database would help consulates make decisions on questions they have and cut down on delays in certain types of applications.

They are already trying to automate parts of the process which can be automated, though they are doing so gradually. Frankly, I don't like the way it's working so far.
I have enough gripes about the PDF forms that artificially restrict how much you can type into a box, and won't let you change the font in order to make it fit. The only option you have is to print the form with the box empty and then fill in that box by hand. Sometimes you have no option other than to write "see attachment" and then provide the information on a separate sheet. It would be difficult to automate this with an online-only process.
This is substantially worse with online forms like the DS-156, which doesn't give you the OPTION of printing the form and filling out any portion of it by hand because the server processes what you typed into a two-dimensional bar code. If you try to write something on the printed form by hand then it wouldn't be included in that bar code, and it wouldn't be scanned into the computers at the consulate. Some consulates are already using forms that are filled out online and submitted electronically. Some of these don't give you the option of creating a file copy or hardcopy, which makes it a little difficult to keep a copy of everything you've submitted, especially when the online form is spread across multiple HTML pages. You have to print the web page before you click "next", and then hope you don't have to go back and revise anything.
The biggest impediment to fully automating the system is that the immigration law gives a lot of discretion to adjudicators, consular officers, and immigration officers. No matter how much you automate the system for getting the information to them, they are still going to spend the same amount of time going over your information to make a decision.
I won't mind if they automate as much as they can, but I'd first like to see them address the flaws in the technology they've already implemented. For pete's sake, they can't even get their online CRIS system to give accurate case status information much of the time, and that system only has to pick one of nine options to display.
This isn't as straightforward as the IRS, where everything boils down to a bunch of numbers on a stack of forms. If you had to submit the same sort of "evidence" to the IRS, and if an IRS officer had the same sort of discretion that an immigration or consular officer had, then I doubt that eFile would exist for tax returns.

I'm sorry to be the one to break it to you, but you abandoned your AOS application when you left the US without approved travel permission. The I-130 is still in play and you can follow the CR-1 path leading to a spousal visa, and visit in the meantime. If you visit again and try to file the I-485 in-country, I suspect you will be denied. If you travelled back and attended the biometrics, eventually they will figure out you left and deny your I-485, even if it seems like things are on track for a while (getting biometric notice). Long story short, you are on the CR-1 path now. Best of luck to you.

I've split the above posts off from the older "Married on a Tourist Visa" thread to make its own thread so as to provide the OP with information relevant to his circumstances. I am keeping it in this forum for now, however, any new threads on this topic should be started in the CR-1 forum as that is the process that is now the most appropriate to follow.
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Moderator hat off. . .
I'm sorry, but what Harpa Timsah told you is correct. Once you left the US after filing for the AOS without either the green card or the Advance Parole travel document in your possession, you effectively abandoned your AOS application.
When you said you talked with USCIS on the help-line, you actually did not talk with USCIS. You talked with a low paid call center employee who is not an immigration officer and who reads off information from prepared scripts. They try to find the most appropriate script to fit your question and in many cases provide not only incorrect information - but disastrous information, which appears to be what happened to you. You can call up 5 different times and give the same information and receive 5 different answers - and all of them could be wrong. It is a serious liability that USCIS does need to address as others have been harmed by their misinformation as well.
If you needed to leave the US, then you should not have filed for AOS from within the US. The proper process would be to have your spouse file the I-130 petition (the I-129f is no longer valid as a fiancee petition). This would start the process on either a CR-1 or a K-3 visa (although the I-129f filed for the fiance visa technically would not be transferable for a K-3 and a new one would be required) - both of which are processed outside of the US. The K-3 visa is now virtually obsolete, so the I-129f would have been administratively closed and the CR-1 visa processing would continue. Once the I-130 is approved, the paperwork transfers to the National Visa Center where your wife would again file more paperwork on your behalf, then the process would be transferred to the US Consulate in the UK where you would attend an interview. (That is a very simplified overview of the process). When you were approved at the interview, you would have a CR-1 visa that activates your permanent residency status when you cross the border into the US.
The advice you received about filing the AOS, the work permit and the AP document was correct ONLY if you were not going to leave the US. You have to be physically present within the US during this process and cannot leave until you receive travel permission (AP) or permanent residency. Thus, the Call Center did you a serious dis-service - and this is why they are more often known as the 'Mis-Information Line' rather than the "Information Line' for those going through any immigration process.
I doubt you will be allowed to continue with the AOS process from within the country so there would be no point in attending the biometrics. One thing you may want to try - your wife should contact her Senator or her Congressman and explain to them exactly what happened - that you were given this advice specifically through the USCIS call center and it has cost you greatly in money, frustration and heart-ache. I have no idea if there is any way they would allow you to re-enter the US to resume processing on the AOS (I seriously doubt it), but it may earn you some consideration somewhere in the process that their error has caused you material loss that you would not have incurred if you had received the correct information.

You cannot enter the US on a tourist visa with the intent to immigrate. That is visa fraud.
You can, however, look into getting married and filing directly with the consulate (DCF). You, the USC, would have to qualify as a UK resident by the consulate's standards. This is the fastest path.

Once she enters the US on a visitor's visa she may only be able to stay for 90 days (unless they still stamp for 6mos but I doubt it, hasn't been the case for quite some time). It'll take you a while to a) organize the wedding (depending on what docs are required from her, some states only require the passport but some want to also see her birth cert, for example), and b) gather up all the docs to file I-130. Your first month - at best - is gone. She's only got two more to be with you. Once you file I-130, you're looking at 8-10 months of this process and you'd have to be apart for most of that time. AND IT SUCKS! BIG TIME.
I'm assuming since you're in the UK on a 1-year contract you probably qualify for DCF by now. Seriously look into this route. It might take you as little as 2 months to complete and you'll both be happily and legally back in the States maybe by August or possibly sooner.

More good news! We had our interview today and our IO was extremely nice, joked with us, made us feel at ease. Asked a few simple questions and then said that our petition was approved and that we should expect to receive the Green Card in the mail in about 3 weeks. Whohoo!

Oh I dunno...this sounds bad. USCIS could clearly charge you with misrepresentation, let alone the overstay. Get a lawyer, today.

Actually they could be charged with Material Misrepresentation which would trigger a lifetime ban. Then they would need a hardship waiver to overcome the ban.
Why "Material" Misrepresentation instead of just misrepresentation? Well because the "I'm married in my home country" statement is used to prove strong ties back home. If the B-Visa issuance hinged upon that strong tie then they misrepresented a material fact that swayed the decision to issue the Visa.

What we do in haste come back to haunt us in many ways.

Three things you need to understand.
First, Cancellation of Removal is NOT the same thing as Adjustment of Status. You must already be in deportation proceedings before you can ask for Cancellation of Removal based on continuous presence of 10 year or more.
Second, a request for Cancellation of Removal needs to be accompanied by a letter of hardship by a qualifying relative. For the purpose of Cancellation of Removal, a qualifying relative is a spouse, parent, or child of the immigrant. An uncle is not a qualifying relative.
Third, the letter of hardship must demonstrate "exceptional and extremely unusual hardship" for the qualifying relative. It doesn't matter how difficult deportation would be for the alien.
Look, don't even be thinking along these lines. Cancellation of Removal is a latch ditch desperate effort to avoid deportation, and it's denied more often than approved. Your friend isn't in this situation yet, so he shouldn't even be thinking about it.
Now I'm going to get judgmental...
You are deluding yourself by calling your friend a "very honest person". He has lived and worked illegally in the United States for nearly a decade. He used a fake name for six years in order to work illegally. He is most decidedly NOT an honest person. If he did happen to be placed in removal proceedings then one of the requirements for Cancellation of Removal is the alien must demonstrate they are a person of "good moral character". Your friend has demonstrated he is not. Even if your friend had a qualifying relative submit a hardship letter on his behalf, Removal of Conditions would probably be denied in his case.
katgrl asked a relevant and important question - has your friend ever claimed to be a US citizen? For example, did he use the name of a US citizen for six years in order to get a job? If so then he would be banned for life from the United States if he were caught. There would be no possible waiver for this ban, not even by marrying a US citizen.
If your friend truly considers himself to be an honest person then he should leave the United States. He has no basis to adjust status.

We really need to "pin" this answer to the top of this forum: it has to be one of the most frequently asked questions here.
The correct answer is "A." No further explanation needs to be written. As the relative of a US citizen, an immigrant visa number will be immediately available to you if the application is approved. All the "or"s in the part in parentheses are so confusing.
The relevant part in parentheses should read, "Attach ... a relative ... petition filed with this application that will give you an immediately available visa number, if approved." That relative petition is the I-130. Be sure you send them both (I-130 and I-485 in the SAME envelope when you file these concurrently!)
Hope this helps.
Good luck!
AJ

We really need to "pin" this answer to the top of this forum: it has to be one of the most frequently asked questions here.
The correct answer is "A." No further explanation needs to be written. As the relative of a US citizen, an immigrant visa number will be immediately available to you if the application is approved. All the "or"s in the part in parentheses are so confusing.
The relevant part in parentheses should read, "Attach ... a relative ... petition filed with this application that will give you an immediately available visa number, if approved." That relative petition is the I-130. Be sure you send them both (I-130 and I-485 in the SAME envelope when you file these concurrently!)
Hope this helps.
Good luck!
AJ

My wife and I were in a similar predicament, although her overstay was not nearly as long as yours. Please read my review of our interview as to why we had our attorney present at our interview.
Good luck!
AJ
P.S. To see our review, just click the "Timeline" link on the left under my username.

1) The attorney you retained is a crook. I can state that, having never seen him, not knowing his name, based on 2 things:
a) his out-of-this-world, kick me in the face until I'm bleeding like a pig fee. For comparison, Visa Associates charges a $350 flat fee for the same service.
b) the VAWA nonsense.
Anybody who did his homework understands what needs to be done here, and I'll tell you what it is, free of charge.
If you don't live in harmony with your husband anymore, you need to file singularly, with a waiver. For your petition to be approved, you need to be divorced. So the first thing I tell you before going even to the bathroom is: get a divorce going before going to the bathroom.
Secondly, what you need to prove for the R.O.C. is that you entered, entered, yes entered the marriage in good faith. Nothing else. If you want to file based on VAWA, you need to do the same, but, in addition, in addition, you need to provide proof of the abuse. Now, why would you make this case more difficult as it has to be? You wouldn't, but your attorney does. Why? To milk you like a cow giving dollar bills, of course!
You need to get rid of the crook, and you need to get your divorce going, now. Immediately!
You file as soon as you are divorced. If you can't get divorced before your Green Card expires, file your I-751 one week to nine days before it expires. You'll get a 1-year extension and and RFE a bit later. That will buy you time, valuable time you need, although about ony 88 days. If you are not divorced by October, when the RFE time's up, ask again and I'll tell you what to do. Free of charge.

Having finished the AOS process, I've been increasingly convinced that touches are really overrated. If it'll serve to reduce your anxiety, then by all means, go. However, as bbuterfly's post above notes, there's really no need to. If you go, and show them your stamped biometrics letter, I'd bet they'll pretty much send you back home immediately.
Good luck!
AJ

I am almost in the same situation with you. did a walk in on the 28th, no touch since the 18th, original appointment is tomorrow
Today I got to talk to someone( other than the 1st line customer service rep). I was originally calling to have some clarifications about the RFE I received, and asked him if he could check my records to see if they have my biometrics. He said yes it shows that I was there on the 28th and they recorded everything. He told me there is no need to go tomorrow, however in some cases, if the computer doesn't pick up that I was there, it might generate a letter, saying that I missed the appointment and reschedule another one. He insisted on telling me that that was just a generic letter and it might not even get to me because the person mailing the computer generated letter , might pay attention and not mail it.
But he say to be on the safe side, to keep my stamped biometrics letter (aka receipt), and if I receive a letter, send them a copy of the receipt with the letter and it will fix the issue
Hope that helps

yes, you will put your I-94 number in this field - the A Number will be assigned to you with the AOS package since it applies to my knowledge towards immigrants only. You should see it later on when you receive your NOA1s
Good luck on your AOS journey!!
M.