AOS on VWP

[Nachoshaw 0]

Hi

I recently married my long term girlfriend in texas. We had originally planned to marry back in the UK but changed last minute and married while in the US because she is having a baby. Now that we are married, we have decided to make an application for my AOS to obtain a green card. We went to see a couple of laywers but if im honest, i dont think they have ever experienced a VWP application before because i kind of had to explain what i needed......

Questions:

Are people here going through lawyers or are they filing themselves?

What do i need to file for exactly? AOS and EAD? What is EAD?

Can anyone recommend a lawyer who is known to be good at this?

My brother in law will be my sponsor because my wife isnt working. What do i need to be aware of?

I have about 30 days left on my VWP so i need to make my application asap.

Hope to get some good advice here for my journey to start

Nacho

[JohnR! 5,495]

You should be fine and chances are you won't need a lawyer either.

Follow the instructions here: --> http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide2

The whole process is DIY and if you're internet savvy you should ace it. Start the application process ASAP.

Congrats and good luck!

Edited June 16, 2015 by JohnR!

[Nachoshaw 0]

Hi

Thanks for the reply. Im ok with the DIY version but i have a couple of form questions. (I was following the example I-130 form)

section: 'C. Information about your relative'

Question 14:

If your relative is currently in the US, complete the following:

I am a visitor on a VWP Visa Waiver so i do not get a I-94 Arrival/Departure record number. I have put in my Arrival & departure dates. is this ok?

Question 17:

i have listed my full name as shown in the example. Do i need to put my childs name in even though the application is not being made for him? He lives with his mother in the UK

Question 21: address at which you lived together

This is currently the address we are both at. I am not supposed to be living in the US right now so should i use this current address or should i use our previous address that we both had in the UK?

Thanks for any help

Nacho

[MsFrizzle 1]

Hi, my wife and I are going through a similar process to you and are now just waiting for the interview- we did it DIY without a lawyer and it's been fine. You need to apply for Adjustment of Status, EAD is form I-765 which is a work permit, it's not mandatory but it's free if you submit it with the AoS package, about $380 if you submit it afterwards, so worth doing it now. There are many other forms you will need such as your I-130 (petition for alien immigrant), I-864 (income), I-693 (medical) etc, search online for a list and make sure you send off all the supporting evidence, filed correctly. The USCIS website has many helpful instructions. Just make sure you triple check all your forms, compare to sample forms, google questions you're unsure about etc. It sounds daunting but you should be able to get it all together in under a week.


I wouldn't feel qualified to help you with question 17 or 21 but you do have an I-94 number even if you arrive on the VWP. Go to this website to find it: https://i94.cbp.dhs.gov/I94/consent.html;jsessionid=R2WvVQ1QnhJtLGdtTPrVb8SmyZf7kJd7GnllL9V2d4FfZY0KLplR!738579468

Good luck!

[Nachoshaw 0]

Hi

Thanks for the reply. Im feeling confident about the diy route. Out of interest, how long has it taken to get from application to interview for you? We spoke to a lawyer who suggested 12 months and we looked at the locat office processing time which was closer to 3 months.

Thanks

Nacho

[MsFrizzle 1]

Glad you're feeling confident! We are still waiting to be given our interview date. We filed everything on April 1st (this year), got accepted for processing 2 days later (we posted it next day/signed for), received our first notices of action less than a week later, I had my biometrics taken on April 29th and we received a letter on 5th of May letting us know that they still needed our I-693 (getting my vaccination records off the NHS was a NIGHTMARE), but that we should bring it to our interview with us- phoned USCIS yesterday and they confirmed that we just needed to wait for an interview date and my work permit should be here within the next 15 days. So far everything has been much smoother and quicker than I expected it to be.

Also somewhere on the USCIS website is a guide to how to present your application, in terms of folder types, etc. We followed it to the letter, included a contents page, coloured tabs to distinguish different sections etc, made sure everything looked impeccable, basically tried to make it as quick and easy for them to read through as possible...I like to think that helped a little?!

[Flyingpig80 0]

I'm in the same situation as you guys.

We filed I130, I 485 and I 765 (EAD) at the end of April (3 days before my VWP expires). So far, I had my biometrics and received a request of initial evidence in May. Haven't heard anything after I responded to their request.

[Flyingpig80 0]

Hi

I recently married my long term girlfriend in texas. We had originally planned to marry back in the UK but changed last minute and married while in the US because she is having a baby. Now that we are married, we have decided to make an application for my AOS to obtain a green card. We went to see a couple of laywers but if im honest, i dont think they have ever experienced a VWP application before because i kind of had to explain what i needed......

Questions:

Are people here going through lawyers or are they filing themselves?

What do i need to file for exactly? AOS and EAD? What is EAD?

Can anyone recommend a lawyer who is known to be good at this?

My brother in law will be my sponsor because my wife isnt working. What do i need to be aware of?

I have about 30 days left on my VWP so i need to make my application asap.

Hope to get some good advice here for my journey to start

Nacho

You should get your medical (part of AOS) done as soon as possible, it can take time to book your appointment (one of the civil surgeons I called told me that they can't give me an appointment for 2 weeks) and get your results. This is the part I panicked because I only decided to stay shortly before my VWP expired.

[Nachoshaw 0]

Ok

thanks for the advice We are getting everythnig together today / tomorrow and organising the medical asap. Still have a couple of queries on the forms that i need a bit of help on, we are going to a free consultation today to see what info we can squeeze out of the lawyer

I have 3 weeks left before my VWP runs out and im sure we will have everything together by Friday fingers crossed

Thanks

Nacho

[Nachoshaw 0]

HI

Just as an update, we went with a visa lawyer in the end and my application through very quick. I now have my greencard in hand

Thanks

Nacho