Interview soon in SF, need help!!!

Lunastar said:
Jane, thank you very much for all your tips. I was gonna read it all to my husband, when he decided, at the last minute, that he's not gonna come to the interview with me.
Aparently, there's a lot about him I didn't know.

So now, I have some questions.

If I leave the country before the interview date, my case will be abandoned, right, but they won't start any deportation procedures?
I'm particularly scared about the deportation issue, cause I know you get banned from the country, and I would like to come back here sometime.
Does anyone know how I can pay my taxes from another country?
Any other info you can give me would be great, I need to find a cheap way to ship all my stuff and many other things.

I'm sorry to bring you these news, and I appreciate the time you all took to inform me. All I can tell you is, make sure to know the person you marry real well. I guess I've learned my lesson.
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My goodness, Lunastar, that’s awful!
Maybe you guys had a bad fight and now he is “punishing “you? Or manipulating you, trying to get his way? Does he understand how serious it is for you if he won’t go to the interview? He might not ever see you again. Is that what he wants?
Even if he does have some serious reasons not wanting to stay in the relationship anymore, can’t he just do it like people do - via the divorce court instead of bluntly letting them deport you?
I don’t want to upset you even more then you are right now. Don’t answer my questions, if you don’t want to. I just feel really really bad for you. :( :(
If there is a chance to patch up thing with your husband you can always call INS customer service and postpone (reschedule) your interview.
It will buy you some more time, but it’s only works if you sure you can persuade him to come to the interview with you after all.
But if you serious to go back home, then I think, the best way to send your staff there is to find your country’s based shipping company in US. Maybe you’ll get more luck if you ask folks, who are natives from the same country as you?
I do not know if they automatically start deportation procedures once you won’t show up for the interview or not. If you withdraw your I-485 prior to the interview, then they won’t.
 
OK, someone's gonna want to slap me for this, but turns out, he was pissed off about something and now we've resolved it, so back to the struggle of getting everything ready for the interview.

I'm sorry I even mentioned it.

Good news is, I got one of the bills to be sent with both our names on it, it'll arrive hopefully before the interview. The other company (SBC) won't have more than one name on the bill. Anyway, I think one's enough.
Also, what is it that you have to show from the health insurance?
We both have cards, but I bet that's not enough.. do you know what kind of paper I need to ask from the insurance people?

Another thing is, they ask for who's employed (currently, my husband) to bring a letter from the employer stating current rate of pay and average weekly hours. The things is, my husband's on a salary, he's not payed by the hour, and he has no average weekly hours (he can go as much or as little as he wants, as long as he gets the job done). He has an offer letter from the company which states what his salary is, and how it's payed. He also has the 2 last pay stubs... Will this be enough?

Thank you for your support and for putting up with me and my Qs :p
Promise to help with everything that I can as soon as this is over and I have info to give :D
 
So glad to hear that you got it resolved! Even though I have never met you or spoken to you, I kept sending you good thoughts for the past few days. (Sounds hokey, but hey, we all have to get through this!)

I only had one bill in both names (Cable, bright house will let you add another name to the account), and a bank statement. No insurance at all. So as long as you have something for them, that will be good enough! (or it was in Tampa at least) Bring a joint tax return, and have a full copy for them though! Ours only wanted a copy of 2004.. and your medical exam. (He only glanced at it, glad I spent $600 bucks for him to see that I don't have TB)

From what he said to us, your letter sounds perfect. They just want to make sure that he makes enough money for the affidavit of support.. and that it hasn't changed since you sent in the paperwork.

Good luck!
 
Hey there Canadian girl,

thanks for all the good thoughts, you can never have too many.
Our bill is also the cable one, we have Comcast, and they were the only ones who let us have two names on it (now I hope they spell mine right).
We can't bring a joint tax return, because we've been together since December last year, and I never filed any taxes. I don't even know how to do it, but I guess someone will explain it to me when the time comes. My husband says it's not hard.

On the notice, it says to bring the medical exam if I haven't provided one, but I sent mine a couple of months ago, so it's definitely still valid (I'll bring my copy of it anyway just in case).
Nothing's changed with his job, he makes the same amount of money, which is more than enough for the affidavit.

Maybe you can tell us some more about your interview... how long ago was it? How long did it take? What kind of questions did they ask?

I'm trying to get myself used to the idea that it's not gonna be bad, but just thinking about it gets me nervous, must be cause the first experience I had with government officials in this country (at the POE) was REALLY bad, so I didn't really get a good impression of it.

Thanks for the support.
 
Hi, Lunastar! I’m glad things worked out good for you and your husband.
I want to clarify your questions about insurance and employment letter from above.

what is it that you have to show from the health insurance?
We both have cards, but I bet that's not enough. do you know what kind of paper I need to ask from the insurance people?

If your insurance cards have both of your names on it, then it will be enough.
Make copies and bring original to show as well.
If you have a copy of your policy stating one of you as an “employee” and another like a “spouse” or “dependent” on the same policy, then bring it too. Or call and ask
Your insurer for a copy or your policy to be mailed or faxed to you.
Of course, if you both have different insurances through your own businesses, or by some other means, then you don’t have to show anything during your interview.

Another thing is, they ask for who's employed (currently, my husband) to bring a letter from the employer stating current rate of pay and average weekly hours. The things is, my husband's on a salary, he's not payed by the hour, and he has no average weekly hours (he can go as much or as little as he wants, as long as he gets the job done). He has an offer letter from the company which states what his salary is, and how it's payed. He also has the 2 last pay stubs... Will this be enough?

The offer letter might not be good enough. They look for a current employment letter, with a current date and signature. Doesn’t matter if your husband on salary or wages, his employer (human resources manager) has to write a letter with specific information: date of hire and a current pay rate.
If his two paychecks cover period of two last months – then he’s all set. If he gets paid bi-weekly – then you need two more paychecks from him.

Good luck
Jane
 
Jane Green said:
If you pass your interview, and I think you will :) , then you won’t need any travel documents, your green card will be all your have to show at the POE back to US (plus your valid passport of course).
Good luck at the interview!

P.S. my interview was canceled. They send me a letter, they had to cancel it “due to unforeseen events”. :( :(

Jane
--------------------------------

ND: January 23, 2005
Still waiting….
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Jane, Did you went to local DO and confirmed that your interview has been cancelled? It happened with me as i shared in this forum earlier. My I485 online status says "Your interview has been cancelled". Then, just one day before scheduled ID, i went to DO (infopass apt) and spoke to immigration officer. She told me that they have no idea about online status. My interview was never cancelled and i need to appear on shceduled date otherwise i'll be denied.
Yesterday, i went for interview and it went well (lasted 10 min).
 
Thanks again for you info.

Our cards don't have both of our names on them. Just on the bottom left corner there's his employer's name. I'm his dependant, since I'm not working right now, so we're both on the same policy. I called the insurance and they said they can't send us anything, that the human resources department of his employer should.
Just my luck, now it's getting more and more complicated.

I also called USCIS and asked them about the employment letter. I hope they got me right, they said that if he's on a salary, they just need to see how much he's getting payed and how often, so that the offer letter (which states that) and the pay stubs would be ok. I have been given contradictory information for the customer service people before, so I'm not 100%, but I'm gonna trust this for now.

Maybe int0928 is right, Jane, maybe you should go check with your DO, cause the online status is not reliable. Try and do it before your scheduled appointment's date, so you don't have any risk of being denied due to not showing.
And WOW, 10 minutes! I hope my interview goes that well...

21 days and counting....
 
Lunastar said:
And WOW, 10 minutes! I hope my interview goes that well...

21 days and counting....
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Yah, i was surprised that she didn't asked for many documents also. As proof of relationship, couple of utility bills, medical insurance and apartment lease were enough. No Pics, No letters. She even didn't took EAD, AP back from me.. :)
 
int0928 said:
Jane, Did you went to local DO and confirmed that your interview has been cancelled? It happened with me as i shared in this forum earlier. My I485 online status says "Your interview has been cancelled". Then, just one day before scheduled ID, i went to DO (infopass apt) and spoke to immigration officer. She told me that they have no idea about online status. My interview was never cancelled and i need to appear on shceduled date otherwise i'll be denied.
Yesterday, i went for interview and it went well (lasted 10 min).
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Glad to hear your interview went as scheduled and you got approved and thanks for the info.
My on-line status and LUD haven’t changed since July 28.
It’s still says, “on July 28, 2005 we sent your application to the Taxes Services Center for processing”
My cancellation notice came in a mail from MSC.
 
Jane, maybe you should still get an infopass appointment.
It won't take that long and you can rule out the possibility of something going wrong with your application.

Another Q, I don't have to bring copies and translation of all the vaccine things again, do I? Also, is there a problem if I fill in the affidavit of support instead of my husband (he has an awful unreadable handwriting). He'll be giving me the info and signing it, of course.

Thanks.
 
Lunastar said:
Jane, maybe you should still get an infopass appointment.
It won't take that long and you can rule out the possibility of something going wrong with your application.

Another Q, I don't have to bring copies and translation of all the vaccine things again, do I? Also, is there a problem if I fill in the affidavit of support instead of my husband (he has an awful unreadable handwriting). He'll be giving me the info and signing it, of course.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

You can use fillable form from visapro.com In that case, you need not to worry about handwriting. :)
Jane, Yes, you should try infopass appointment. Weird part is that even on interview date, my online status says that my interview has been cancelled. Online status probably updated through MSC while here DO in phoenix office, evthng was as per schedule. I feel extremely lucky after talking to DO office, otherwise my application would have been denied for the mistake i never made.
I didn't check my mail as my PO box is 30 miles from my home. But i'm sure there is a cancellation notice from MSC in my mailbox.
 
Yeah, we've had problems with the fillable ones before, it didn't work all the time, and we couldn't fit all the info, so I rather do it by hand. My question was if there's any problem with me writing it, as long as my husband signs it.

Thanks.
 
Lunastar said:
Yeah, we've had problems with the fillable ones before, it didn't work all the time, and we couldn't fit all the info, so I rather do it by hand. My question was if there's any problem with me writing it, as long as my husband signs it.

Thanks.
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I doubt it, My mother-in-law filled out ours for us, because she has the eatest writing of all of us.. we were there while she did it, and then we signed it. She did all of our paperwork for us.
 
Another silly question,
does our bank account have to have a certain amount of money in it?
I mean, they know how much money my husband makes (which is much), but our joint account doesn't have that much money in it. Mostly, the cash goes into a savings account, of money that we don't touch (so I didn't see a point in joining that account), but we use the money in the joint account, and if it's getting low, we transfer some.

Also, about the taxes, we got married in march, and my husband filed his taxes in april, cause he rather do it early than forget it later. Since I hadn't made any money, we didn't file jointly and he filed as single this time. Is this gonna be a problem?
 
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I don't think your bank balance will affect anything.. I have read of several people having just a few hundred in the account.. They just want to see that you are sharing finances. He didn't even keep the part that said the balance, just the names on it.

The other part, I don't know. I don't really know the tax laws here yet.. but I would think that since you had not been married during that past year, you wouldn't have filed togeather. We only filed togeather this past year, and not the one prior, because I hadn't been here the whole year, and we were not married. I am sure someone on here can answer that with some authority on the subject though.
You are going to do just fine!

When I reapply in 1 year, and 9 months for my I-765 he gave me a list of "good evidence" it is as follows:
-Copies of childrens birth certificates (he told us not to have any if we didn't want to though.. hehe)
-Morgages, leases (If you rent, talk to your landlord and see if you can update your lease with both names if not already)
-Bank statments
-Utilities in both names
-Income tax (joint)

Lunastar said:
Another silly question,
does our bank account have to have a certain amount of money in it?
I mean, they know how much money my husband makes (which is much), but our joint account doesn't have that much money in it. Mostly, the cash goes into a savings account, of money that we don't touch (so I didn't see a point in joining that account), but we use the money in the joint account, and if it's getting low, we transfer some.

Also, about the taxes, we got married in march, and my husband filed his taxes in april, cause he rather do it early than forget it later. Since I hadn't made any money, we didn't file jointly and he filed as single this time. Is this gonna be a problem?
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I had a question, my sponsor will be retired at this Nov. 1st and my interview date is Nov. 7th, after he retire, the only income will be his retirement paycheck, he will looking for another job, but I dont think will be this quick.

my question is can I use my income for myself support? do I need I-864A or something? will you suggest use my income better, or using his assets will be better?

Answer the tax question: Lunastar
If my understanding is right, you married at March 2005, and your husband file tax return at April 2005.
what he filed in April is for year 2004, since you didn't marry at 12/31/04, he can not file joint return for 2004, in the coming year 2005, you can file joint return. period cover 01/01/05 to 12/31/05, return due on 04/15/06.
 
Hey wanzi,

yeah, thanks, after I asked my husband again, he figured it out. I don't understand anything about taxes here, everytime someone asks me to fill in a W something, I get a headache. So what if I'm married, but I want more taxes to be withheld, cause I don't want to get a bill at the end of the year? Is it possible to file jointly and still do that? Do I decide to file jointly then, or when I get a job? That's what I'm confused about, cause everytime I go to a job agency they make me fill in a W-4, and I don't understand how I'm supposed to know how much money I'm gonna make, before I get a job.

I wish I had an answer to your question.. I think there's one part on the affidavit, where it says that if your sponsor changes, you can present a new affidavit... Just make sure that your income is enough.

Now my concern is the pictures. I managed to gather about 10 decent ones including the wedding ones (I could throw in some more, but they're either out of focus, cause of a crappy camera I have, or almost exactly the same as others). I figured if I take some out of focus, or two that are really similar to the interview, the officer won't like it much. My digital camera likes to take pics out of focus (something I should have told the photographer at our wedding), and my manual camera is, well, manual. So I'm kinda the only one who knows how to operate it. I have a ton of pics of my husband by himself, but I guess those don't count :p

I'll develop some rolls I have lying around, see if I find something there, and try and take some more before the interview...
The funny part is, I'm a photographer! Guess it's hard to get pics of both of us if we don't know anyone where we live...

Thanks to all of you, it's getting closer! I'll keep you posted...
 
hi, Lunastar

return filing joint or single is not decide by you have a job or not.
if you married, you are able to file Married File Joint return, and can NOT file Single return, but you can choice to file Married File Seperate return. Normarlly MFJ is the best choice to file, with max deduction can be taken. For MFS, will be good for those couple whom both making a lot money, husbannd and wife.

you have a very good thought, to let IRS withhold enough money instead of a bill at the end of year. which means you will not have a penalty by underpayment.
every time when you enroll in a new employment, you will need fill out I-9, gathering your information, citizen, GC, EAD, OPT, anyway, qualify to work or not.
and you will fill out W-4, REMEMBER this is the form you can tell your employer how much you want to be withheld from your paycheck. the form can be fill out by your status to withhold, or by the amount you wish to be withhold.
and you will fill out another "X"-4, for state withholding. like Alabama, will be A-4, which is withholding tax for your state tax.

If your withholding tax is $1000 lower than year end your tax show on return, you will get a penalty, if every year is underpayment, penalty will be calculated at another way, heavier.

go search on internet, i saw some website calculate tax withholding, even IRS website.

BTW, good luck, and take more pictures before interview.
 
Hey there,

I really got nothing of what you just explained, but that's alright, I'm not worried about how to file my taxes now.
My husband filed as single, cause he'd like to get some money at the end of the year, and he said even if I do the same thing (which I believe is a good idea), it's still possible for us to file jointly. Is he right?
Are we gonna have any problems at the interview, cause his pay stubs say "taxable status: single"? If they ask, I hope his explanation is enough, I mean, it makes sense to me, but I don't understand anything about taxes here...

I will take more pics, we have some cool plans in the future, and I'll take my crappy, always out of focus cam, cause it's the only one other people can handle (and I need other people to take pics of us). I hope we can get some decent ones, even with that cam.
What would you say a decent number of pics is? I heard the SF DO is very demanding when it comes to proof of relationship.

I guess I should stop making myself crazy with all the questions in my head, but there's so much at stake, I know I won't get a peaceful night sleep until this is all over with.
Luckily, it's only two weeks away... counting the minutes.
 
OK,

I wanted to give you an update on my situation.
It's two days to the interview, and I'm nervous all the time. I got all the paperwork together, plus a bunch of pictures I didn't even remember I had, so I'm fairly confident on that.
Two issues; the bank wouldn't give us a statement of our joint account, because it's been less than a month, since we have both names together. I managed to get their screen printed out. Doesn't look too official, but it shows both our names, and the agent was nice enough to attach his card to it. I hope this is enough.
Also, I have contacted the health insurance twice over the last two weeks, requesting a document from there where it shows that I'm a dependant on my husband's coverage plan. They said they mailed it, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't take two weeks for a regular letter to arrive, so since I still don't have it, I guess I'll ask them to fax it over. I hope this is ok too.

Any last minute tips or anything?
I feel more confident, but this doesn't keep me from being really nervous.

Thank you all for your advice, I'll follow most of it ;)

So, I guess I'll post again from the other side, and I promise to let you know everything that happened.

Thanks!
 
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