Question about which forms to file

[Scully70]

Hi, I'm new to the forum and haven't found any info in the threads or FAQ's that addresses my situation so please bear with me.

I am a US citizen and married to a UK national. He came to visit me in Feb. 2006 on a tourist visa, which was set to expire in May. During this time, we became engaged. Before it expired, we applied for a B-2 extension on this visa. We received an acknowledgment of acceptance of this in June. Apparently, they sent us some more forms to fill out in August but we never received them. We only discovered in November after many calls to DHS that the visa had not actually been extended, as we had stupidly assumed. We had already been planning to get married, so we just decided to get married at that time to cover any overstay of visa.

So in December, we started to get our documents together to file the I-130, but DHS had never returned my husband's original visa, so we had to wait until February 2007 for that to be returned to us. We then sent the I-130, but the mail foiled us again (we live in Chicago, the worst mail system in the country) and the forms were not returned to us until June. So we sent the forms AGAIN, only to have the acceptance delayed by DHS until after July 1, when the fee went up from $180 to $355, so it was returned to us yet again.

We have not yet been able to raise the extra money to file the extra fee and cannot afford a lawyer. We will be sending in the I-130 after Christmas and were just wondering if we needed to be sending in an I-765 for an EAD as well, since obviously we need to get a work permit for him. We were under the impression that we should file only the I-130 and then file the I-765 and I-485. He entered the country legally, filed for a visa extension and attempted to file the I-130, has not been working, is in a good faith marriage to a US citizen, and has made good faith efforts to stay legal, although it seems as if he might currently be considered in an overstay status. Are we doing the right things here? Is there something else we should be doing? I am told our experience is common and that we shouldn't have problems, but I'd just like to get some input from people with a bit more experience in this area. Thanks!

[PraetorianXI]

The fee did not increase until July 30th.

You also need to file I-485... I-693, I-864... and forget about him going back to UK, even with an I-131...

Enough time has been wasted (did you know that the place where you need to file all of these forms is in Chicago?...) it makes no sense to go through so much Mail trouble.

Follow this guide: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/in...age=i130guide2

[Scully70]

Sorry, got the date wrong, but in any case the form was returned to us with our original check, asking for a new check and telling us the fee had gone up.

So we should be filing all these forms together, the I-485 and the I-130, although he technically overstayed his visa? The link you provided says he might have to go back to the UK to file (well, if he came to the US on a tourist visa with the intent of immigration and marriage, but he did not, he just came to visit), but we were told that if he leaves the country now, he might never get back in. How much of an issue is the overstaying of his visa?

I know, I can't believe how much time has been wasted, but when we called the office, they told us we had to send the forms through the mail, even though we were having so many issues. I'm feeling like we should just go down there and sit there until someone accepts our forms at this point despite what we've been told. I mean it's absolute insanity that he doesn't have a work permit a year on now.

[Scully70]

Also, I just want to ensure that we do not have to fill out the I-485 Supplement A since he is applying as the spouse of a US citizen and entered legally...anyone? I've been reading the notes on the INS website and although it seems clear that this is the case, I don't want to have the forms sent back to us again in case I'm wrong.

Thanks, Praetorian, and anyone else who chimes in. Much appreciated.

[PraetorianXI]

No I-485 supplement A needed.

Yes, you need to send the forms together... just follow that guide and come back with questions.

Send them to the Chicago Lockbox, with all of the requirements and evidence.

PS: He does not and SHOULD NOT go back to UK, until he gets his GREEN CARD. Otherwise he will be banned because of his overstay... HE IS FORGIVEN, for as long as he stays here until he gets his GC.

[Scully70]

Thanks again...ok, now, how to come up with the $1010 additional (I can't believe the bad advice given us by INS to only file I-130, if we had filed all these together last winter we would have saved what, over $600). *sigh*

Yes, that's what we were told initially, that he should not and could not leave. We've heard of a one day overstay that prevented an Irish actor from reentering the US; we're not about to make that mistake.

Cheers and good luck to everyone else--we know how lucky we are compared to others on this site, circumstances wise. I'll be back when we finally file!