any help with this situation?

[shelbean]

hello
My story begins in june of 2002. My boyfriend came to the us for the second time, visting me. When he was asked the normal questions upon entering, my now husband stated that he was here to visit his girlfriend, ask her to marry him, and hopfully relocate here. Big mistake. he and i both were questioned for hours. We were completly honest with the border patrol officer. We didnt think we had anything to hide. We told him our plan. he was going to stay for the whole 3 months the visa waiver allowed him too. If we still were sure we wanted to get married, he was going to look for work and hopefully find an employer who would hire him and get him here. He is a ship mechanic. At that time, after very little research into all things immagration, thats what we thought was the best thing to do. Weeks before he flew in that day, i had even contacted, uscis, which was the ins at that time, and they adviced me that he could come and look for work during that 3 mth period, but told us that he had to go back to england to apply for any type of visa to stay here. So that was our plan. Well. that day he was denied entry. Shortly after that, i went to visit him in England. We decided to marry. So my two children from a previous marriage and i, went to england, and we got married. In feb. 2003. our son was born that november. i came back to the us in the fall of 2004 and filed i 130 and after that the k 3 visa. My problem is this, Its being processed in CA. and it has gone way beyond the date when a decsion should have been made. They are currently working on alien relative cases that were submitting in feb of 2005. mine was submitted in sept 2004. ive called uscis many times, no one knows anything. ive been transfered to specialists and immagration officiers and i never get any answers. just that its being processed. i recently gave birth to our second. I need my husband. whats holding the descion up? anyone have any ideas? is it because he was denied entry at one time? he is of pakistani origin. He was born in london, england. How long does this sort of case really take? and once i get approval. How many other things do i need to file and get approved before i can go and pick my husband up from the airport. Im tired of trying to be in two countries at once, trying to keep our family together as much as possible. Please give me some advice.

 

[margotfamily]

shelbean...

I know you're frustrated and maybe you didn't get to write down certain things in your post. No biggie. I totally understand. I was just getting ready to post my convulated mess, but I saw yours and I wanted to reply. Also, this is my first post on this site...I'm not new to immigration "stuff" though.

OK - Your husband is/ has been law-abiding and everything? His happening to be of pakastani origin won't matter. He's English. Also, don't pay attention to the "processing times" and you're being past-due B.S. as it's wrong. CA filed a public notice regarding this...surprising *yawn* It just basically says...processing times are not correct...no kidding california? It's Arnold's doing, right? I live in CO, and our governor is a.....Na, won't do it.

So shel - You did or did not get a Notice of Action from the uscis regarding your filing the I-130? You should not have been able to file for the K-3 yet if you didn't receive an NOA, but I may have missed something you wrote.

I'm going to post some stuff and some of it you know, BUT I know you'll get good new info and new phone #'s. Before I post the rest, wait times from the time you filed the I-130 to your husbands arrival is kind of ridiculous, but it's from 1 to 3 years. You can change things:

A few weeks after you have sent your petition to the nearest INS service center, the service center will send you a Notice of Action (aka NOA) letter indicating that they have begun processing your I-130 application, along with an estimation of the time it will take before your I-130 application will be approved. At the bottom of the Notice of Action, a telephone number is listed that you can call to check on the status of your petition.

You'll need this phone # for National Visa Center 1-603-334-0700

If your I-130 petition is finally approved, the service center with which you filed your petition, will send you another Notice of Action letter indicating your approval, and the forwarding of your approved petition to the National Visa Processing Center in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, along with a phone number to contact the NVC with. Your case will now only be dealt with by the NVC. The service center that you filed with, will have no more knowledge on the status of your petition or case.

A few weeks after you have received your last Notice of Action indicating the approval and forwarding of your I-130 application to the NVC, the NVC will send your relative a packet of forms that you and your relative must fill out before your relative can be given an interview date with a consulate abroad. The packet contains an Of-169 form, and an Of-230 part one and two forms that must be filled out by the intending immigrant. An I-864 form is also included that must be filled out by the petitioner. The I-864 is the Affidavit of Support form that requires copies of the petitioners past 3 U.S tax returns, as well as any bank or financial records available. The petitioner must make at least 125% above the U.S federal poverty to indicate to the U.S government that the intending immigrant will not become a federal charge to the government when he/she arrives in the U.S.If the petitioner cannot meet these requirements, then he/she must still file an I-864, and find a joint sponsor who can meet the requirements on his/her own. When a joint sponsor is needed ,proof of their U.S citizenship or permanent residency is required. (i.e. copy of birth certificate, immigration status etc). The joint sponsor must be residing in the U.S, and he/she must also submit his/her past 3 years U.S tax returns along with bank or any other financial records available. The joint sponsor must submit his/her own I-864 form to accompany the petitioner's I-864 form.

Forms that must be sent back to the NVC or the consulate abroad (depending upon which consulate you are going through) before an interview date with a consulate abroad can be scheduled are as follows:

1.Completed and signed OF-169.

2.Completed and signed Of-230 Part 1 and 2 forms.

3.I-864 Affidavit of Support Form along with past 3 year U.S tax returns and any other financial documents available.

4.A copy of intending immigrants biographic page of passport(s) including expiration date.

5.A copy of intending immigrants birth certificate(s).

6.A copy of intending immigrants adoption certificate(s) (if applicable)

7.Marriage certificate. (if applicable)

8.Divorce decree(s) or death certificate(s) (if applicable)

9.Police certificate(s)

10.Court and prison records.(if applicable)

11.Custody records. (if applicable)

12.Military records (if applicable)

After the NVC receives these forms and supporting documents, an interview date will be scheduled for the intending immigrant at a consulate abroad. The NVC or the consulate abroad will send your relative a letter indicating at what time and day the interview is scheduled for, and of required forms that must be brought to the interview. Documents needed are:

1.Tax form 9003.

2.Valid Passport.

3.Original birth certificate.

4.Original adoption decree. (if applicable)

5.Original marriage certificate. (if applicable)

6.Original death certificate. (if applicable)

7.Original divorce decree. (if applicable)

8.Police certificate.

9.Court record(s) (if applicable).

10.Evidence of support.

11.Medical examination information (a list of INS approved doctors to perform the medical is included with the letter)

12.2 ADIT style photos of the intending immigrant.

More you ask *grin* (I know, not that it's GREAT news, but?)

How often is the I-130 petition denied??
Not very often, but nonetheless, it happens.

What are grounds for the INS to deny an I-130 petition??
There are several grounds for which the INS can deny your petition. Not being honest with them, or insufficient proof of citizenship, criminal record or US residency are the most common, however, as earlier said, a denial is rare.

What happens if I later discover that I forgot some of the forms needed to go with the I-130 petition...will I be denied??
No, in most cases the INS office or service center that you filed with will send you a form requesting additional information.

What happens if my I-130 petition is denied?? Can I appeal??
Yes, you can appeal, but how to do this is a mystery to me. If for some reason your I-130 petition is denied, then I highly recommend seeing an immigration lawyer.

An approval of an I-130 petition only means that your relative can file for an immigrant visa, or Adjustment of Status, and does not give your relative any rights until the INS or a consulate officer interviews your relative and makes a decision on whether or not your relative can become a lawful permanent resident.

There are a lot of things that you can do to speed up the process, and to avoid any delays. It should be done before you even attempt to file the I-130 petition and embark on the immigration process, still though, make several copies of all legal documents (birth certificates, death certificates, etc) and that you have all of your U.S tax returns and information readily available. Not having enough copies of legal documents and tax and medical records can slow the process down. It is better to have too many copies of these documents, than to not have enough! Also, RESEARCH, a lot and get going!



A good resource for information is google owned - alt.visa.us.marriage-based newsgroup. It's really better than good, and here's an email address for your questions: immigration_helpsite@yahoo.com (I'm not in anyway affiliated with any of these phones, email addresses, nada shel. Oops, a good phone # for the State Dept, in case - 202 514-2648

I'm a dude waiting to write my own "help me" question on this site. My business is writing useful info for foreign-speaking, prospective students...yada yada. I speak Chinese (Mandarin), my wife is Chinese and we are in the 90-day countdown for her to have the conditions removed from her permanent residency status. However, I screwed one thing up that I just learned yesterday (and after first filing the I-129 in April 01) I need to get some advice about. I think I know already, but this is a good site. I still cannot believe it. I'll move back to China if need be, but she doesn't want to go back to live there...if she has a choice. Everything will be OK. I'm just paranoid, and thus I understand your frustration - in more ways than I've even mentioned.

Take care and contact me if need be (I will need to update my bizarre user id profile here. Margot's a friend of mine?? See, "paranoid")

See ya,

K

A good phone # for the State Dept in case - 202 514-2648

 

[shelbean]

Thank You So Much

hi Wow you really sound like you know what youre talking about. Yes i have recieved noa for i 130. and i did file for the k 3 visa. husband has no criminal background. the day he was denied entry they finger printed him and did a background check. the officer told me they both came back fine. so all this really can take up to three years? that just isnt fair. we have two young babies. plus my children from previous marriage, consider him their father. we are trying to decide if me and the children should just move to england till he can reside here. i cant raise 4 children on my own. thanks again for the reply.