[boltondd]

A quick update:

Received acknowledgement from the government stating the next step which is the appointment for recording the eyeball and fingerprints.

[reervieltnope]

Whew!!!!!!!!!!! Just got back from San Francisco where my wife and I went for her I-485 interview ( sent in I-485 April 16th). Went to interview loaded for bear with copies, in duplicate, of every document we have filed at all stages of this process, every new thing they have asked for to bring to interview, every and any scrap of paper verifying our relationship and PICTURES!!!!!! 3 binders of documents and two BIG binders of pictures, cards, letters, etc........

The interview; Her

Have you ever been arrested in the U.S.?
Do you know any terrorist?
Are you a terrorist?
Do you gamble?
How many times married?
Do you have children?

The interview: Me

How many times married?
Do you have children?
Name?
Birthdate?
How did you meet?

Only snag at time. Officer said vaccination suppliment (I-693) incomplete and to get corrected (more shots). Went 4 blocks down the road to "official" Designated Civil Surgeon. They looked at our vaccination record ( from US Embassy and performed in BKK at their desginated hospital), said we had all the shots and transfed the data to the "official" SUPPLEMENTAL FORM TO I-693 sign and sealed it and for $25 sent us on our merry way back.

Actual time in interview: 20 mins. Time spent screwing around 2 hours+.

Conclusion: Insanity, absolute and utter insanity. No rhyme. No reason. No sense. Its just a big morass of functionaries blindly bumbling about with no direction or goal or clue, from the very top ( White House) all the way down to the bottom.

ARRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH............................ .......

Good luck Peterg.

[boltondd]

I have heard that the Fiancee Visa way it a lot easier and quicker than marriage and then the visa, I do know that the married and then visa for a wife can run 2 years before any action is seen.

That's the word I had and the primary reason for going the K-1 route.

[Nabeqiv]

So it's important that you keep all the original documents used for the K-1 process and bring them with you when you come to the US

It is, especially after you are married!

I am still pretty upset that I had to fill out the same forms as the ones the governemt already had.

What's even worse is all the current talk about the illegal aliens here in the US and amnesty. Makes you wonder why you bother taking the legal route.

Hang onto that paperwork.
In a couple years, when converting from "conditional status", you'll need all the same paperwork once again!

We also had to supply the same documents, a 4th time, when our case was transfered between offices (LA to Santa Ana)!

You'll often find them asking the same questions over and over. Sometimes they are checking to see if they get the same answers to the same questions.

And yesterday, we received the Marriage Certificates from the Thai Embassy, so we are duly registered as married in Thailand.

This is surprising. When we converted from K-1 to conditional PR, our US wedding certificate was all that was needed. The US officials stamped her passport with the her new family name (on a blank visa page).

[boltondd]

This is surprising. When we converted from K-1 to conditional PR, our US wedding certificate was all that was needed. The US officials stamped her passport with the her new family name (on a blank visa page).

We registered the marriage at the Thai Embassy so that it was recorded in Thailand. It really didn't have anything to do with US Immigration.
The Thai passport we changed so that immigration anywhere would not be confused. Now whether that does any good we will find out when we go to the UK next month. And be assured, we will carry every peice of official paper we have received.

And one other thing, to add insult to injury, if I was an EU citizen I get a free visa for the wife to enter the UK, because I am a UK citizen, I have to pay $180 for a ten year visa (1 year is cheaper but not by much!) And boy, do I get pi***d off every time I think about that one.

[Nabeqiv]

We've flown between Thailand and the States a few times with the name stamp. Also went to Singapore. Never had any problems.

Is this getting weird, or is it just me?
You're a Citizen of the UK and your wife is immigrating to the States?

[DownloadMan]

I have heard that the Fiancee Visa way it a lot easier and quicker than marriage and then the visa, I do know that the married and then visa for a wife can run 2 years before any action is seen.

[boltondd]

Had a notice from the government today requiring wife to head to the nearest application support office on the 11th for her biometrics to be captured.

We seem to be moving at a lightening pace !

[sestomosi]

That's nice man, congrats.

[reervieltnope]

We seem to be moving at a lightening pace ! Glad to hear it. We got our notice of acceptance at the end of last week. Encouraging that you are having such fast action. Did you mail to Chicago?

Good luck!

[boltondd]

Glad to hear it. We got our notice of acceptance at the end of last week. Encouraging that you are having such fast action. Did you mail to Chicago?

Good luck!

Yep, it went to Chicago, the acceptance was mailed out of Missouri, and the biometrics are being done in Atlanta.

I assume when you say acceptance you mean notification they received your I-485 package?

[boltondd]

We've flown between Thailand and the States a few times with the name stamp. Also went to Singapore. Never had any problems.

Is this getting weird, or is it just me?
You're a Citizen of the UK and your wife is immigrating to the States?

They call it dual citizenship ! Although have now lived in the US more but perhaps a little later will get Thai as well

[boltondd]

Biometrics done!

Just a note: If you haven't had chance to change the wifes passport you will require the marriage certificate to link the wifes passport to your last name, they don't mention this on the notice to appear.

Actually I was quite suprised, was in and out with a minimum of fuss.

Also took the opportunity to visit the farmers market on Buford Highway in Atlanta, one block north of I-285 on the left. For those of you in the south east US, if you have chance to go there make sure you have a cooler (a big one) for the perishable stuff.

[boltondd]

Adjustment status I-185 usually takes 90-120 day to receive Condition GC. while it is pending when you leave country if there is error in docs or over stay the parole allowed period it will be caused a major headache because she will be denied entering, the wife has to restart application again as K3 applicant. What they are talking about is stay on the safe side while GC is pending.

According to everything I have read the wife cannot leave the country unless the Advance Parole is obtained. Leaving automatically voids the I-485 and you have to start over by fileing the I-130.

The Advance Parole is vaild for 2 years, hopefully adjustment of status will not take that long!

Hang on, you are talking about the time out of the country, the only thing I have read concerning that is: if you are a resident and you stay outside of the country for more than a year. Do you know of any other time frame?

[sestomosi]

Hmmm the new fiance visa forms, which were updated at the end of May I think, ask about the marriage broker stuff. I hope everything is well and good now because I don't want to be put on the back burner.

[boltondd]

— except maybe the Homeland Security Department. Red tape has put wedding bells on hold for about 10,000 U.S. citizens seeking visas for their foreign brides and grooms as the department works on new paperwork for their applications.
The form change was required as part of a law, enacted in March, to protect foreign mail-order brides from abusive American spouses. But Homeland Security missed its deadline three months ago, putting the visa applications of thousands of law-abiding lovers in limbo.
The department said Tuesday it would send out additional forms to the visa seekers for more information that should satisfy the new law's protections.
But the bureaucratic entanglement has trashed wedding plans for many couples before they could get anywhere near the altar.
"We were ready to get married this year, but I can't really make a date until we get the approval," said Bill Hall, 41, a construction foreman from Burlington, Vt. He applied two months ago for a visa for his fiancee, Debbie, to emigrate from Canada with her two sons. In separate interviews, the couple said they have been dating for six years.
"We're just kind of here, in limbo," Hall said. "And it's kind of aggravating — it's a real simple thing they have to do, and they're making more of it than they need to."
He said his application, sent to Homeland Security in April, "never got approved. It's just sitting there."
The tale of these 10,000 belated nuptials illustrates a bureaucratic response to what all sides agree is a well-intentioned law to protect women.
Advocates estimate that as many as 15,000 foreign women annually meet their American husbands through for-profit marriage brokers. That number, provided by the Virginia-based Tahirih Justice Center, marks a sharp rise from a 1999 estimate by the former Immigration and Naturalization Services of 30,000 women who came to the United States through a marriage broker during the previous five years.
Spurred by stories of foreign women — largely from Eastern Europe and Asia — being abused or even murdered by their U.S. husbands, Congress in December approved new protections for mail-order brides. They included amending the application form for so-called fiancee visas with two new questions: Whether the romance was arranged by an international marriage broker, and had the U.S. citizen ever been accused of a violent crime or convicted of three or more alcohol- or drug-related crimes.

President Bush signed the law on January 5, putting Homeland Security under order to draw up the new paperwork. But the forms weren't finished by March 6, when the law took effect — resulting in the department shelving all fiancee visa applications written on the old forms that were received after that date.
Chris Bentley, a Homeland Security spokesman, said about 10,000 applications are currently being held because they did not address the criminal or marriage broker issues.
"They did not have all of the information needed to determine whether someone qualified or not," said Bentley, who works for the department's Citizenship and Immigration Services.
He added: "It's certainly an inconvenience brought about by the new requirements of the law."
Homeland Security said Tuesday it would send additional forms to the estimated 10,000 couples in wedding purgatory to get answers to the questions about criminal pasts and marriage brokers. But it said it was still waiting for the White House Office of Management and Budget for approval of those forms and the new application.
OMB spokeswoman Andrea Wuebker did not have details immediately on the additional forms, but said the new applications were approved Monday in an emergency clearance process. It was not clear when the new applications would be distributed to the public.
Sen. Maria Cantwell (news, bio, voting record), D-Wash., rapped Homeland Security for getting cold feet about quickly processing the new regulations that she helped write.
"Security and safety should be their top consideration but their long visa process delays are putting a lot of people's lives on hold," Cantwell said in a statement.
Hall, the lovelorn Vermonter, said he's frustrated with the visa delays for people trying to follow the law at a time the Bush administration is grappling with giving other benefits to immigrants who have slipped into the U.S. illegally.
"I thought it was ironic," Hall said. "And I find it unfair."

[Knillagrarp]

Yes. It is called advance furlough. We traveled to Thailand on it while my wife's application was being processed. Just travel as usual and when she arrives at customs upon your return produce her passport and the advance furlough document. It helps to bring copies of all your application receipts too, just as additional support (we didn't need them, but what the heck). We had to go to a separate room for verification, which added about 25 minutes to the process. We made our connection in plenty of time.

[verybigf]

Adjustment status I-185 usually takes 90-120 day to receive Condition GC. while it was pending when you leave country if there was error in docs or over stay the advance parole allowed period it will be caused a major headache because she will be denied entering, the wife has to restart application again as K3 applicant. What they are talking about is stay on the safe side while GC is pending.

[reervieltnope]

Well, well. Intresting thread to start. I just mailed off our I-485 to Uncle Sam last Friday 4/14/06. I've saved everything or copies of everything that we have filed or thought we would file. The only new things I had to come up with was my Fed return for this year and a couple of new passport photo's. I thought the directions from the governments website were pretty straight forward and direct as regards to filling out and submiting Forms I-485 and I-864 Affidavit of Support.

Intresting that they required all of your documents at your point of entry. As I recall we just showed her passpor with the K-1 visa stamp, filled out an !-94 form and that was it, on our way. It only took about 10 minutes and they didn't even require fingerprints!

The warning about I-131 and the links to the 2 websites are much appreciated and good info Chino1.

It will be intresting to read about your experience's Peterg and I'll post mine when I hear something.

[boltondd]

And if I check processing dates for the I-131 and the I-485 we filed back in April on the USCIS web site and I get the following:

If our applications are being processed out of Charlotte, NC then:
The I-131, Application for Travel Documents should be in the works right now (they are currently processing applications from 4/29/2006) and

They are currently processing I-485's with a receipt date of 11/15/2005, so there are 5 months worth to go.

If out applications are being processed out of Atlanta, GA then:

They are currently processing I-131's with a receipt date of 11/30/2005, so there are 5 months worth to go and

They are currently processing I-1485's with a receipt date of 9/1/2005, so there are 7 months worth to go.

BTW: Los Angeles is much the same as Charlotte, NC

The Travel Documents are supposed to be for emergency travel so god knows what you would do if there was a real emergency. It just shows you how screwed up the whole process is here in the US.