Marriage based green card interview

[UScitizenFilingforspouse]

You are wonderful! Yes, all valid points and u are correct, i will look at us as the officer and sure everything youre saying, ive gone thru in my head! That question you had asked is the first thing, i would ask , if i were to interview us! He actually petitoned fpr me back in 2009, right after we got married pr close after- im not sure. Now- it got approved, fairly fast but it stated , that I am not eligible to adjust while in the US. Which scared me and confused me! To my knowledge, i was eligible - came on J1 visa WITHOUT the two year requirement, never been convicted of any crime, had maybe one apeesing ticket I had a child and the thought of returning home and trying to do counselor processing was not an option thx to my overstay. And to apply for adjustment and the posibility to have it denied scared me so much, that we never did try to adjust!! I know , I know... but i was terrified at even a slight possibility of losing my child! My husband back than was willing to move if that were the case, but what he would do job wise, how would it all work out with him not knowing the language etc. So than we are, where we are today.

Just now i was going thru our evidence - since 2007 when we dated - i have just emails lovey dovey between us and pictures. Than i have some for each year, pictures for all years. I have videos too- do they ever wanna see those? Pictures from vacations with his parents, xmass with my family, summer with my mom, niece.. everyone is involved. Poctures from daughter?s 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th,5th and 6th bday celebrations, her recitals, plays, school. We have bills for all years from 2008-2014 and rest i have to print- i have each month so its a lot. We dont have both names of bills - because i never knew how to and now its seems tacky 3 weeks before interview. What we do have is - gas on my name , power and comcast in his, some years comcast was in mine. So both our names are listed on dif bills. I think its obvious i wouldnt pay gas somewhere, had i not live there. I have mail etc. also year 2012 we have our daughter?s preschool payment receipts with both parents names and same address on it. I will have affidavits from his family also and they are also our joint sponsors.

Thank you for your kind words! Just trying to help!

Regarding that old I-130, I would just make sure everything is OK with that old case. If you have the letter, I'd suggest reading it again. Adjudicators use templates and they don't always edit them to reflect the specifics of your case. I would definitely have proof that your J1 visa did not have a 2 year requirement. I don't think there are any issues. It's just good to have a record of all that.

Thank you for sharing your journey. It's definitely been a long road for you, and you will soon have your 10 year card. Here are a few thoughts on how to arrange your evidence:

1. Looking at your timeline, I think the architecture of 4EVER's Table or Emerald 2020s table would best accommodate the type of evidence you have. I would pay special attention to the explanations that Passe included on their table of contents, too.
The list goes
#1 4EVER
#2 Emerald 2020
#3 Passe

2. I would definitely include the lovey dovey emails. (We included a few mild arguments LOL - true couples argue!). I think that pictures in your case are relevant, especially if you are able to dig up receipts or old bank statements and tie those receipts to the pictures. I would limit the pictures to a few per year, just highlights and perhaps, choose pictures that you can tell a story about and make sure to include pictures of folks who are giving you affidavits.

3. I would definitely include an Emergency contact information.

4. The bills are also good evidence. They show consistency. Sure, anyone could add anyone to a utility bill but you have proof that dates back to 2008. The fact of the matter is that is the same address. Do not stress out about having both names on all bills. Truth is that some utility companies only allow one primary account holder. So they end up adding the second name as an authorized user and to display it on the bill, they add the second name to the mailing address. That's a work around I've seen people do. Whatever you do, do not do c/o (in care of). I remember that back in 96-97 Florida Power Company would not allow both names on the bill, so they offered to list my name "in care of" my wife. The officer did NOT like that. I was on the hot seat. I do not recommend it.

5. I would arrange evidence from oldest to most recent - placing the oldest documents within each category on top. That just sends a subliminal message that you have been together for a long time.

6. I would definitely showcase that your in-laws are your joint sponsors and they should mention that being your joint sponsors is evidence of the bona fide nature of your marriage.

7. Any school record that mentions you and your husband is good evidence. Vaccinations, hospital records.

8. Even though your in-laws are your joint sponsors, you should still present your joint income taxes as evidence of financial commingling. Even if you filed married filing separately, that's good evidence. I would present transcripts. You can get them online. Otherwise, you can call and have them fax the transcripts to you.

I think you plenty. It is key that you organize it in a way that allows you to easily locate what the ISO needs. I would also arrange it the way that 4EVER did. She attached the table of contents on the left side of the folder and the evidence was on the right. That way you don't have to be flipping back and forth.

All the best!

USCFFS

[Dreamerdancer42]

Thank you for your kind words! Just trying to help!

Regarding that old I-130, I would just make sure everything is OK with that old case. If you have the letter, I'd suggest reading it again. Adjudicators use templates and they don't always edit them to reflect the specifics of your case. I would definitely have proof that your J1 visa did not have a 2 year requirement. I don't think there are any issues. It's just good to have a record of all that.

Thank you for sharing your journey. It's definitely been a long road for you, and you will soon have your 10 year card. Here are a few thoughts on how to arrange your evidence:

1. Looking at your timeline, I think the architecture of 4EVER's Table or Emerald 2020s table would best accommodate the type of evidence you have. I would pay special attention to the explanations that Passe included on their table of contents, too.
The list goes
#1 4EVER
#2 Emerald 2020
#3 Passe

2. I would definitely include the lovey dovey emails. (We included a few mild arguments LOL - true couples argue!). I think that pictures in your case are relevant, especially if you are able to dig up receipts or old bank statements and tie those receipts to the pictures. I would limit the pictures to a few per year, just highlights and perhaps, choose pictures that you can tell a story about and make sure to include pictures of folks who are giving you affidavits.

3. I would definitely include an Emergency contact information.

4. The bills are also good evidence. They show consistency. Sure, anyone could add anyone to a utility bill but you have proof that dates back to 2008. The fact of the matter is that is the same address. Do not stress out about having both names on all bills. Truth is that some utility companies only allow one primary account holder. So they end up adding the second name as an authorized user and to display it on the bill, they add the second name to the mailing address. That's a work around I've seen people do. Whatever you do, do not do c/o (in care of). I remember that back in 96-97 Florida Power Company would not allow both names on the bill, so they offered to list my name "in care of" my wife. The officer did NOT like that. I was on the hot seat. I do not recommend it.

5. I would arrange evidence from oldest to most recent - placing the oldest documents within each category on top. That just sends a subliminal message that you have been together for a long time.

6. I would definitely showcase that your in-laws are your joint sponsors and they should mention that being your joint sponsors is evidence of the bona fide nature of your marriage.

7. Any school record that mentions you and your husband is good evidence. Vaccinations, hospital records.

8. Even though your in-laws are your joint sponsors, you should still present your joint income taxes as evidence of financial commingling. Even if you filed married filing separately, that's good evidence. I would present transcripts. You can get them online. Otherwise, you can call and have them fax the transcripts to you.

I think you plenty. It is key that you organize it in a way that allows you to easily locate what the ISO needs. I would also arrange it the way that 4EVER did. She attached the table of contents on the left side of the folder and the evidence was on the right. That way you don't have to be flipping back and forth.

All the best!

USCFFS

Thank u!!

Yes, regarding our I-130 , I have it and sent a copy with my application now. We never received RFE. I think, what had happened, since the petition arrived on its own, no adjustement of status along with it, they just assumed, i must not be eligible. And just automatically sent that letter - and since we had absolutely no clue, what we were doing, we thought, oh no, theres a problem. I know, i didnt sent any evidence back than except our daughters info and the obvious documents. I didnt know, like i know now, how it is all supposed to be. i have the original page from my old passport with visa info and did sent the copy to them now. Thanks to this forum, when sending my I-485, i did my homework and on here. Definitely very important to come here and read orher people?s experiences.

[Guest]

It happens. The world is backwards. VAWA is abused all the time. Officers are prohibited from reaching out to the US citizen to corroborate the story. It is a serious issue. I, for instance, have a professional license. Took an oath, etc. My license would be in jeopardy if my spouse all of a sudden turns around, files for VAWA claiming that I physically, or psychologically abused him. In the eyes of any professional board, abuse is an action of moral turpitude. They would just suspend my license until things clear up.

USCFFS, do you have any evidence at all that VAWA is being abused, other than the statements of angry ex-spouses? Even the new article you linked, if you read it, says that the woman's lawyer stated that she had never applied for VAWA and that she had testified to that in court. On the other hand, it clearly says that the man only suspects that this is what she did.

What you said frankly struck me as ludicrous.

So I looked for evidence to corroborate your statement. Reports, statistics, etc. that were not just anecdotal or personal accounts by ex-spouses themselves (after all, most people who abuse their spouses deny it, gaslight, or try to turn it around on the victim, that's sort of a hallmark of abuse).

Perhaps you could be so kind as to provide evidence instead, because I was not able to find it.

You have claimed many times on this forum that USCIS officers are suspicious and on the lookout for fraud. You've posted at length about the evidentiary requirements to prove bona fide marriages. To get a VAWA-based GC, the victim has to prove that the marriage was bona fide AND that the abuse occurred (for simplicity, I'm only talking about VAWA based GC process for IRs of USCs). Many immigrants who apply are rejected (I read 25-35%) and most are RFE'd & it's not even `necessarily`quicker than a marriage-based GC. It can be one to several years long process. My question is why would someone do that rather than simply marrying, divorcing, & then applying to remove I-751 conditions on their own? Just so that the other person cannot claim fraud? In either case, the person must prove bona fide marriage.

To say that VAWA is abused "all the time" is ridiculous and false. I'm sure that some people abuse it. Some people abuse anything. But not most people and certainly not "all the time".

In case any are deleted/removed, here are *4* links, one of which specifically addresses VAWA fraud:

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Resources/Reports%20and%20Studies/Immigration%20Forms%20Data/Citizenship/I360_VAWA_performancedata_fy2018_qtr2.pdf

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3952594/

There are plenty of other resources out there, I'm sure better researchers than me can dig up some good info/stats.

If you do have access to any other (reliable) source that I didn't find, I would be VERY interested in looking into it.

[UScitizenFilingforspouse]

USCFFS, do you have any evidence at all that VAWA is being abused, other than the statements of angry ex-spouses? Even the new article you linked, if you read it, says that the woman's lawyer stated that she had never applied for VAWA and that she had testified to that in court. On the other hand, it clearly says that the man only suspects that this is what she did.

What you said frankly struck me as ludicrous.

So I looked for evidence to corroborate your statement. Reports, statistics, etc. that were not just anecdotal or personal accounts by ex-spouses themselves (after all, most people who abuse their spouses deny it, gaslight, or try to turn it around on the victim, that's sort of a hallmark of abuse).

Perhaps you could be so kind as to provide evidence instead, because I was not able to find it.

You have claimed many times on this forum that USCIS officers are suspicious and on the lookout for fraud. You've posted at length about the evidentiary requirements to prove bona fide marriages. To get a VAWA-based GC, the victim has to prove that the marriage was bona fide AND that the abuse occurred (for simplicity, I'm only talking about VAWA based GC process for IRs of USCs). Many immigrants who apply are rejected (I read 25-35%) and most are RFE'd & it's not even `necessarily`quicker than a marriage-based GC. It can be one to several years long process. My question is why would someone do that rather than simply marrying, divorcing, & then applying to remove I-751 conditions on their own? Just so that the other person cannot claim fraud? In either case, the person must prove bona fide marriage.

To say that VAWA is abused "all the time" is ridiculous and false. I'm sure that some people abuse it. Some people abuse anything. But not most people and certainly not "all the time".

In case any are deleted/removed, here are *4* links, one of which specifically addresses VAWA fraud:

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/USCIS/Resources/Reports%20and%20Studies/Immigration%20Forms%20Data/Citizenship/I360_VAWA_performancedata_fy2018_qtr2.pdf

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3952594/

There are plenty of other resources out there, I'm sure better researchers than me can dig up some good info/stats.

If you do have access to any other (reliable) source that I didn't find, I would be VERY interested in looking into it.

You are free to seek answers to your own questions. You ought to read the article once more; or maybe watching the video will help you understand the premise. Petitioner spouses may never be able to confirm that the intending immigrant filed VAWA due to its confidential nature. That's all.

All the best,

USCFFS

[Guest]

You are free to seek answers to your own questions. You ought to read the article once more; or maybe watching the video will help you understand the premise. Petitioner spouses may never be able to confirm that the intending immigrant filed VAWA due to its confidential nature. That's all.

All the best,

USCFFS

I understand the premise, it's just factually inaccurate

[UScitizenFilingforspouse]

I understand the premise, it's just factually inaccurate

You can always reach out to www.nbcwashington.com, Ember.

[cali2018]

The other forums has a massive vawa discussion...its a black hole unless you really care a ton best to steer clear.

[Guest]

You can always reach out to www.nbcwashington.com, Ember.

NBC was not reporting that this fraud was happening, only that White House staffers were meeting with a bunch of angry ex spouses who believe and claim that it is happening

The facts show otherwise, but unfortunately angry ex-spouses have not historically been the most amenable to the truth

[UScitizenFilingforspouse]

NBC was not reporting that this fraud was happening, only that White House staffers were meeting with a bunch of angry ex spouses who believe and claim that it is happening

The facts show otherwise, but unfortunately angry ex-spouses have not historically been the most amenable to the truth

"angry ex-spouses have not historically been the most amenable to the truth" - I am not sure you meant to use amenable there.
ANYWAY...
That is not what the article or the video states. You can't hide the sun with your thumb. You forgot about the older gentleman who routinely hosts "victims" who file for VAWA. He said "It was all B.S" about the Russian female he hosted. Fraud happens, and it happens a lot. As my grandmother always said, when the river makes noise, it's because it brings rocks.

Discussing VAWA does go beyond my purpose on this forum, and that is to raise awareness of the I-130 instructions which require that all evidence is submitted at the time of filing the I-130 whether it is concurrently filed with the I-485 or not.

[krypton9591]

Do u have children? Ud understand the commitment , if u did. Or anyone else, who doesnt have children yet.

I get your point, but i think were talking in circles at this point. While i understand the person asking the question and the way , he asked it, the tone was a lil dismissive - we shouldnt judge him and assume anything. We dont know him or his situation and cant assume, he doesnt have evidence of having a child, thats not possible of course. Theres always a TON besides birth certificate, espec, when the child is older. You all just assumed, thats all he had. U have vaccinate banies, pictures from delivery room, announcements, if older child activities u paid for...im almost 100% positive, that person has all of that. Thats why , ppl who have not yet started families, have to come up with such extreme evidence such as thinking anout death already

Now, your lenthy description here is off and its a long stretch. How can someone ever prove or even suggest, that two ppl had a child to get green card? Why wouldnt they just get the ?advance directive? and all of the items needed btw all JUST papers?! Much easier than creating a human, going thru pregnancy, raising a child for at least 18 years?!! Why would anyone do that as opossed to have JUST papers to show ready if all they want is a green card?! Birth certificate is not just a paper! Unlike all the other papers! Heavy story behind it. To obtain that - two ppl go thru a LOT! Unlike filling out a paper and signing it, that one or the other can unplug or decide my faith - the catch in that is - U CAN CHANGE your mind about it anytime in the future. You cant change your mind about having a child..theyre not going anywhere! Plus, why would anyone either citizen or permanent resident have a family with an imigrant, im sure, theres plenty of citizens, that can have kids. Why with an imigrant?! Most likely, because they fell in love with that person..plain and simple. Why go thru the strugle to obtain green card for someone and have a child with them, if theyre in this "compromising situation". Think about it.

Using words such as ?sperm donor? doesnt make any sense.. you have never been thru pregnancy etc., its a LOOONG process and if anyone would not have any relationship with the person, they were pregnant with, thed make them have abortion or left them but certainly NOT MARRY THEM on top of everything!! Lets not forget, two ppl that have that child (ren) also GOT MARRIED! But what you can not argue is - those two ppl had sexual relations which means, they most likely were attracted to one another thus had romantic relations! Now- i dont think anyone can argue with that!

In our case for instance- we got married, when my daughter was already over year old. I was pregnant again and that promted us to finally get hitched, make it official! Green card was NOT a priority, in fact we applied for adjustment 9 years later. Prob didnt have to wait that long, but i never had a lawyer , whod explain to me, i was ok to apply sooner!

But ultimately, the likehood , that someone had a child to get a green card is highly unrealistic! Even green card is only for ten years, Child for life! For obvious reasons- children can not be altered, gotten rid of like a piece of paper . The common sense is , if two ppl are married - it might not be ONLY because of green card, if they have a child to raise! Marriage results in having children, thats not a secret.

Sure, show evidence, you two were taking vaca with family (like us), you go to child?s recitals, prek graduation etc. all of that shows, yes - were raising this child as a family. But dont underestimate the seriousness of the fact, when children are involved!

Ohh why hello there DreamerDancer42 it's been a while. First off please be aware that I truly wish you the best in your interview and I hope you pass it and live happily ever after. However I do have a few issues with this post which I am aware you have corrected on but I still feel the need to provide you with the information as follows.(I also apologize cause I don't have time to go through this with spell/Grammar check)

1. Whether or not someone has children of their own has nothing to do with their ability to know if children show a true marriage or not. there's plenty of NICU nurses, midwives, childcare workers etc. who get the jobs because they can't have kids of their own or don't have kids currently but want to have them eventually.

2. The idea that EVERYONE who gets married and has kids either before or after they're married is in love and proves a true bonad-fide marriage is just inherently false and Factually incorrect. There are plenty of people that have "one of those nights" possibly involving music and fun and some liquid that is being consumed that gives them happy feels. Then wouldn't you know it a USC and the new F1 student who's never partied before have a interesting night together when they normally wouldn't even look at each other, and 9 months later they realized that not only did the they forget about using protection but the nice little pill they took afterwards just in case( I like to call it the Oh Sh$*t pill) didn't work cause they took it more than 72 hours later. and they both decided to be a decent people and raise the child together even though they're not interested in each other really have no desire to be together and that shows later on after marriage and birth. or perhaps you have a couple who have a horrible on and off again relationship and after a giant argument they had angry make up whoopee and wouldn't you know it the fights continue but out of obligation they stay together cause that night was the night someone didn't use protection or the protection didn't work and sure enough that dammed stork shows up and they feel like they're stuck together until the GC process it complete.

3. Sperm donor babies for GC very easily happen all the time. Why? because it's easier and cheaper to tell some person you met who's from another country to have a kid with you in trade for a green card then it is to apply for a sperm donation as a single person, pray the insurance possibly covers it(no chance post ACA), and then pay 5-10k for the treatments to try and have it work. Trust me. I've seen stuff like this happen.

4. Children don't make couples stay together, as it has been pointed out, people divorce all the time, then people go to court and "fight" for sole custody. and that turns works out very well especially if it's a USC "fighting" for custody against someone who has a green card.

5. Unfortunately dreamerdancer42, for every good and honest couple out there, there's going to be 30 who are frauds.

6. VAWA is a horribly dark rabbit hole that is a entirely different situation and also has a TON of fraud involved in it.


Now to conclude this long winded mess of words. And AGAIN I am not saying this to deter you from having high hopes of having an amazing meeting. but in the case of this post I honestly and unfortunately have to say that You really need to get a dose of reality if you think that all married couples with children are true marriages.

[Guest]

"angry ex-spouses have not historically been the most amenable to the truth" - I am not sure you meant to use amenable there.
ANYWAY...
That is not what the article or the video states. You can't hide the sun with your thumb. You forgot about the older gentleman who routinely hosts "victims" who file for VAWA. He said "It was all B.S" about the Russian female he hosted. Fraud happens, and it happens a lot. As my grandmother always said, when the river makes noise, it's because it brings rocks.

Discussing VAWA does go beyond my purpose on this forum, and that is to raise awareness of the I-130 instructions which require that all evidence is submitted at the time of filing the I-130 whether it is concurrently filed with the I-485 or not.

Yes, I meant to use amenable. People who are under the influence of strong emotion of anger are not usually open to/responsive to/agreeable to, if you prefer. Amenable can be used in multiple ways, and often carries a preposition, if it was the grammar that concerned you rather than the word itself. I can use a whole host of other synonyms if you really want to nitpick my choice of wording, but I don't really see why it matters to you. Although it clearly mattered enough to mention

Anyway, if this discussion goes beyond your purpose, as you say, I am happy to leave it as it is. *My* purpose was to correct the misleading and untrue idea that abuse of an immigration process happens "all the time". Immigration and immigrants are already being attacked enough as it is, we don't need to be adding more fuel to the fire by claiming that the system is being misused. People might get the wrong idea. There are enough misconceptions about immigrants already. Again, I am not saying abuse of the system never happens. Any system will have some abuse. But a few examples does not a trend make, so to speak.

[UScitizenFilingforspouse]

Yes, I meant to use amenable. People who are under the influence of strong emotion of anger are not usually open to/responsive to/agreeable to, if you prefer. Amenable can be used in multiple ways, and often carries a preposition, if it was the grammar that concerned you rather than the word itself. I can use a whole host of other synonyms if you really want to nitpick my choice of wording, but I don't really see why it matters to you. Although it clearly mattered enough to mention

Anyway, if this discussion goes beyond your purpose, as you say, I am happy to leave it as it is. *My* purpose was to correct the misleading and untrue idea that abuse of an immigration process happens "all the time". Immigration and immigrants are already being attacked enough as it is, we don't need to be adding more fuel to the fire by claiming that the system is being misused. People might get the wrong idea. There are enough misconceptions about immigrants already. Again, I am not saying abuse of the system never happens. Any system will have some abuse. But a few examples does not a trend make, so to speak.

It is difficult to understand your purpose from your 89 posts. For every disgruntled post like yours, I get 500 emails/posts thanking me for being a bedrock in the community - like the screenshot below, or asking me to let them know if I am ever in their area to break bread. I routinely empty my mailbox every few days.

In fact, I created the thread with carefully selected resources because it had become impossible for me to keep up with the daily influx of emails. https://www.immihelp.com/forum/showt...737#post582737 Today, it has been 146 days since I created the thread. Since then, it has been viewed 14,673 times. That's roughly 100 views per day.

The thread has proven so useful to many that others like Heavenlyminded, Houston2016, Krypton9591 have taken it upon themselvess to direct people to the thread.

It is OK to disagree with others, Ember. And in this case, we disagree. However, exercise decorum and basic manners even when you disagree. Or at least, that is what I require of others for me to engage in communication with them. Remember that you will catch more flies with honey, than with vinegar.

All the best,

USCFFS

[krypton9591]

It is difficult to understand your purpose from your 89 posts. For every disgruntled post like yours, I get 500 emails/posts thanking me for being a bedrock in the community - like the screenshot below, or asking me to let them know if I am ever in their area to break bread. I routinely empty my mailbox every few days.

In fact, I created the thread with carefully selected resources because it had become impossible for me to keep up with the daily influx of emails. https://www.immihelp.com/forum/showt...737#post582737 Today, it has been 146 days since I created the thread. Since then, it has been viewed 14,673 times. That's roughly 100 views per day.

The thread has proven so useful to many that others like Heavenlyminded, Houston2016, Krypton9591 have taken it upon themselvess to direct people to the thread.

It is OK to disagree with others, Ember. And in this case, we disagree. However, exercise decorum and basic manners even when you disagree. Or at least, that is what I require of others for me to engage in communication with them. Remember that you will catch more flies with honey, than with vinegar.

All the best,

USCFFS

Agreed USCFFS's post is a wealth of information and proof that the IO's start upping the game every-time someone brings something new in as evidence. Also let it be known the only senior member that is allowed to be blunt and mildly aggrivating yet honest to USCFFS is me. And that's cause I earned that opportunity. and I even try to be as polite as possible 99% of the time. Ember, you're entitled to your opinion. but in this situation the VAWA posts had absolutely nothing to do with the OP's question and should have been put in a more appropriate thread.

[cali2018]

Everyone take a breath and step back. We all here to help give advice to those who want to live with their loved ones. This thread took many turns and OPs question has been answered in depth. No need to continue and debate about topics that dont impact 95% of the cases on here in this thread, there is a space for that elsewhere.

[UScitizenFilingforspouse]

Also let it be known the only senior member that is allowed to be blunt and mildly aggrivating yet honest to USCFFS is me. And that's cause I earned that opportunity. and I even try to be as polite as possible 99% of the time.

You're hilarious. But it's TRUE! LOL