hanjin1

I'm sorry if this is a dumb question, but I was wondering what forms I would file right now? I have recently married my F1 opt wife and we are in the process of filling out the forms. We have the i485, i130 and both g325a done, but have not filled out a i864, i693, or i765 as of yet. the i765 I am doing right now but I had one question on that.

If she is currently on her opt would she check yes for the question, "Have you ever before applied for employment authorization from the INS?" and is she applying for Permission to accept employment or Renewal of my permission to accept employment?

Another question was about the i693. Do I have to send that in with all the other forms at the same time or do I wait and bring it in during the interview? I have heard that the medical exam papers expire after a year and if this process takes longer then a year, which I hear is the case for most, then it would be better to get the exam at a later time and then send the i693 later or during the interview.

Also would there be any problems with me not having 3 yrs of taxes. I have been in school and graduted last May. This years tax returns will be the first time I have filed for taxes, so I assume I will not qualify for the i864. Me and my wife are trying to get a friend to cosponsor for us.

So just asking one more time, what forms do I file right now at the same time, all of them or everything but the i693 or everything except the i693 and i864? What would happen if I did not send in certain forms? Would I get rejected, but have time to send the forms in? Sorry for all the questions I just want to make sure I do this right, because I want my wife to stay here with me. By the way I live in Jacksonville, FL if that makes anything easier.

FlyergirlUK

Some offices require you to file the I-693 along with the AOS paperwork, others do not. Find the office you will file at here for more information.

The I-864 must be submitted along with the AOS but when the time comes for the AOS interview you can take an updated I-864 along with you.

hanjin1

Was also wondering, do I need to get the I864 Affidavit of Support notarized as well? What is the purpose of that?

And do I need to supply that many photos of us for every form as well?

FlyergirlUK

As per the instructions for the I-864, yes, it must be notarized. This is done because you are swearing that all the information given on this form is correct - read the Concluding Provisions part of the affadavit for further information.

Each form has it's own instructions and indicates how many photos are needed e.g. two for the EAD, two for the I-485 and so on.

If in doubt, read the instructions.

no-spam

We just completed filling in our forms. Some tips:

If you have any questions, keep phoning the CIS National Customer Service Center 1-800-375-5283 and talk with an immigration officer. This is NOT the person that answers the phone first. Do NOT follow the advice of the person that answers the phone first unless an Immigration officer also tells you the same thing. Ask to speak to an immigration officer when the first person answers the phone.

Fill in all fields. Don't leave anything blank.

The G-325A has 4 pages. If filling out the online internet forms then fill in the first page and the other pages will fill in automatically. Print out ALL 4 pages for sending in. That means there should be a total of eight G-325A pages sent in, 4 for you and 4 for your spouse. There are 4 pages because they are copies sent to different departments in CIS. Note: At the bottom of each page is a different label.

(1) Ident
(2) Rec.
(3) C.
(4) Consul


PICTURES
Some of the instructions are not clear. Go to a Kinko's or another store that takes Poloroid Immigration or Greencard photo's. They will have to have film that is the old style poleroid film, they probably special order it. (Instand poloroid film that does not have peal apart backing is not acceptable.) The film they will use to take your picture is the kind where they wait 5 minutes, then peal apart the backing of the instant film.
The pictures may cost you $50 for all the pictures you need. I believe there is a total of 7-8 pictures to send in for your spouse and 2 for you.


Digital photo's are NOT ACCEPTABLE!!!

Also, make sure enough of your left eye is in the photograph or that may be cause for rejection of your photo's.

You'll have to follow the ADIT photo instructions on turning your head 45 degrees, showing your right ear, not wearing any jewelry and your head must be the right size in the photograph. Kinko's where we went, had a plastic see through page where they printed the ADIT example in a box, then they laid it over the instant picture and matched up the head to see if it is a perfect size. Their camera also had alignment dots to get the purportions correct when taking the picture. If the picture is not the perfect size and correct film, it will likely be rejected so do not accept the word of the store taking the picture, (oh it will be okay) have them take it again if it isn't correct. Take the ADIT instructions in with you.

If I think of something else, I'll post.

no-spam

More suggestions:


MONEY ORDER - NO PERSONAL CHECKS
Personal checks are not acceptable to the CIS. You'll probably have to get a Money Order for the filing fees. Ask the CIS Immigration Officer.


MONEY ORDER FOR EACH FORM YOU ARE FILING
Have a Money Order for each of the filing fees, rather than 1 money order for all forms. A CIS officer recommended that to us rather than sending a single check.



PRIORITY MAIL TYVEK ENVELOPE
Pick up a Priority Mail envelope from the post office. Instead of the cardboard envelope, get the big TyVek Priority mail envelope to put your forms in and your spouses Medical exam sealed envelope. When it is time to mail, put all your paperwork, Money Orders etc, in the envelope and ask to send it Certified mail, return receipt requested. You'll fill out a total of three things to mail the envelope, the Envelope address label, the Certified Mail card and the return receipt card. Our packet was mailed for $8 in March 2004.


CALL YOUR PARENTS AND GET THEIR BIRTH INFO
Call your parents and find out where they were born and what date. Your spouse will also need this to fill in the form.


EMPLOYMENT LETTER FROM COMPANY
Get an employment letter from your company stating that you work there from what date, your position title, your yearly salary. Have it on company letterhead only and have an officer of the company sign it.


BIRTH CERTIFICATES
If you or your spouse has a birth certificate from another country and the birth certificate isn't totally in english. Then have it translated. Go to http://www.translatorscafe.com
and find yourself a freelance translator in the USA. The translators in other countries are cheaper but not usually as good. We had my wifes one page birth certificate translated for under $35.
When you scan your birth certificate to send to the translator via email, do a good job of it. I recommend you scan at 150 DPI, or you could scan it at 100 DPI, that may be acceptable also. Output the scan to GIF format. Usually you only need to save 16 colors to make the filesize smaller, or if you don't know how to reduce the number of colors in your output, just save it as a GIF file. The birth certificate must be the one from the city or county where you were born, not the Hospital birth record. You can send a copy of your birth certificate, but when you have your interview take the originals of everything!

no-spam

2003 poverty guidelines for a 2 person household - 125% poverty line: $15,150.

Do you have assets of that much to make up the difference in your income? If so, it may be unnecessary to get a friend to cosponsor. Since the people signing the Affidavite of Support are bound for a minimum of 10 years to keep the government from supporting them, that is a fairly good friend and commitment.

How much equity do you have in your car? Bank account balance? Readily available assets that can be converted to cash?

http://uscis.gov/graphics/formsfee/f...les/I-864p.pdf




Do you have enough cash to pay for the form filing fees? I believe it is $655 for all the forms, including the $50 fingerprinting fee, the advance parole travel authorization etc. If you wait another month, the prices could go up even higher. (I was warned by a CIS officer that the prices could go up in April)

In addition, it will cost who knows how much to have your spouse get her medical exam from the civil surgeon. Save money by having your spouse take in any information about immunizations. We paid $150 for my spouses medical exam.


OTHER EXPESES YOU WILL HAVE TO PAY:

$50 (estimate) for ADIT photo's

Copying charges if you don't have free access to a copier. Estimate $10. Check to see if you have an office Depot nearby if you want to do a lot of copying. (don't send off your papers without having a copy for your records)

Translation of birth certificate if necessary ($35-$50)

Mailing charges to CIS: $8-$10

Charges to get copies of your marriage license $10-$15 (get at least 4 copies of your marriage license at your courthouse or City / County Clerks office marriage license division. Be sure and have them stamp it, which they will.

Have I left anything out?


Just figure approximately $1000 to file the forms and pay for the necessary costs involved in preparing them yourself. If you go with a lawyer then figure approximately $2200-$3500 total.

Bluegrass Lass

Where do you get this?? People send in checks all the time.

no-spam

Okay,
I should correct myself. At the local office that we mail our forms to, the CIS Immigration Officer stated, that this office ONLY accepted Money Orders or Cashiers Checks. NO PERSONAL CHECKS.

I assume it depends on the local office that you send your papers to. But for our Local office (Indianapolis, Indiana), this is the rule.

You'll need to check to see what the rules are where you file. One visitor to this forum recently posted that the Seattle office doesn't do fingerprinting but they sent in $50 for finger printing. This caused the packet to be sent back to the person because the payment was too much. Therefore, it's best to call the Immigration officer and get the amounts and rules correct as they seem to be slightly different.

jeffreyhy

n-s

Wrong.

The picture do not have to be taken with "the old style poleroid film". If the pictures are going to be taken using instant film it has to be a certain type of instant film, but other types of photo printing are also acceptable.

Photos that were taken with a digital camera are very acceptable.

Regards, JEff

no-spam

From the instructions on form I-131
http://uscis.gov/graphics/formsfee/f...iles/I-131.pdf

Photographs. II.
A. You must submit two identical color photographs of
yourself taken within 30 days of the filing of this
application. The photos must have a white
background, be printed on thin paper with a glossy
finish, and be unmounted and unretouched.
NOTE: Digital photos are not acceptable.

The photos should show a three-quarter frontal view
of the right side of your face, with your right ear
visible and your head bare (unless you are wearing a
headress as required by a religious order of which you
are a member).




The other forms instructions are not as clear as the I-131,
however it's clear the instructions on I-131 have the
same specifications as the other photos for the other forms.

I am just going by the instructions and what was explained to me from a CIS Immigration Officer.
If you've managed to get your pictures through
as Digital etc, then good for you.
Yes, other types of instant film are acceptable to INS,
they specifically mention a POLAROID FILM HYBRID #5.


The ADIT instructions:
http://uscis.gov/graphics/lawsregs/handbook/m-378.pdf

"NON PEAL APART FILMS ARE EASILY RECOGNIZED"
Acceptable color film has a gray-toned backing.
Sounds like they want a peal apart film to me.

Mtravelkay

no-spam wrote:

    > More suggestions:
    >
    >
    > MONEY ORDER - NO PERSONAL CHECKS
    > Personal checks are
    > not acceptable to the CIS. You'll probably have to get a Money Order for
    > the filing fees. Ask the CIS Immigration Officer.

Since when??
Many people here have used checks.
I even recall someone posting here about bouncing a check.

    >
    > MONEY ORDER FOR
    > EACH FORM YOU ARE FILING
    > Have a Money Order for each of the filing fees,
    > rather than 1 money order for all forms. A CIS officer recommended that
    > to us rather than sending a single check.

Where does it say checks can't be used?

    >
    >
    > PRIORITY MAIL TYVEK
    > ENVELOPE
    > Pick up a Priority Mail envelope from the post office. Instead
    > of the cardboard envelope, get the big TyVek Priority mail envelope to
    > put your forms in and your spouses Medical exam sealed envelope. When
    > it is time to mail, put all your paperwork, Money Orders etc, in the
    > envelope and ask to send it Certified mail, return receipt requested.
    > You'll fill out a total of three things to mail the envelope, the
    > Envelope address label, the Certified Mail card and the return receipt
    > card. Our packet was mailed for $8 in March 2004.

If you're going to do that, you might as well just send it via Express
Mail and get electronic tracking.

    >
    >
    > CALL YOUR PARENTS
    > AND GET THEIR BIRTH INFO
    > Call your parents and find out where they were
    > born and what date. Your spouse will also need this to fill in the
    > form.

What form asks for the name of the US Citizen's parents?
I don't see this on the I-130.

    >
    > BIRTH CERTIFICATES
    > If you or your
    > spouse has a birth certificate from another country and the birth
    > certificate isn't totally in english. Then have it translated. Go to
    > http://www.translatorscafe.com
    > and find yourself a freelance
    > translator in the USA. The translators in other countries are cheaper
    > but not usually as good. We had my wifes one page birth certificate
    > translated for under $35.

My wife translated the forms herself and had someone else fluent in both
language sign off on it after proofreading it. Cost $0.

Mtravelkay

no-spam wrote:

    > Originally posted by hanjin1
    >
    >>This years tax returns
    >
    > will be the first time I have filed for taxes, so I assume I will not
    > qualify for the i864. Me and my wife are trying to get a friend to
    > cosponsor for us.
    >
    > 2003 poverty guidelines for a 2 person
    > household - 125% poverty line: $15,150.
    >
    > Do you have assets of that
    > much to make up the difference in your income? If so, it may be
    > unnecessary to get a friend to cosponsor. Since the people signing the
    > Affidavite of Support are bound for a minimum of 10 years to keep the
    > government from supporting them, that is a fairly good friend and
    > commitment.

They are not bound for a minumum of 10 years. My wife should be a
citizen about 4 years after entering the US. So, this is far from a
minimum of 10 years.

It would could also be less than 10 years if they die or abandon status.

So, it would be a minimum of 10 years if they don't

1. Become citizen
2. die
3. permanently leave the US (abandoned status or deportation)

Mtravelkay

no-spam wrote:

    > Originally posted by sunflwrgrl13
    >
    >>Where do you get
    >
    > this?? People send in checks all the time.
    >
    >
    > Okay,
    > I should
    > correct myself. At the local office that we mail our forms to, the CIS
    > Immigration Officer stated, that this office ONLY accepted Money Orders
    > or Cashiers Checks. NO PERSONAL CHECKS.
    >
    > I assume it depends on the
    > local office that you send your papers to. But for our Local office
    > (Indianapolis, Indiana), this is the rule.


Not according to the web info at:
http://uscis.gov/graphics/fieldoffic...is/aboutus.htm

Paying Fees:
Please note that this Office does not accept cash. Fees must be paid
only by certified check, money order, or personal check if accompanied
by proper identification. Fees for applications submitted by mail must
be either certified check or money order. Click here for more
information on the payment of immigration fees after March 1, 2003.

Mtravelkay

no-spam wrote:

    > The ADIT instructions:
    > ]http://uscis.gov/graphics/lawsregs/handbook/m-
    > 378.pdf[/url]
    >
    > "NON PEAL APART FILMS ARE EASILY RECOGNIZED"
    >
    > Acceptable color film has a gray-toned backing.
    > Sounds like they
    > want a peal apart film to me.

This is describing what kind of instant film is acceptable, it isn't
saying that only instant film is acceptable. My photos were white on the
back, but still instant. Non instant photos are also acceptable.
It is kind of interesting that digital pictures aren't "acceptable" for
I-131, since I don't see how you can tell the difference if both digital
and non digital are printed on photo paper. I even have seen digital
paper that says "Kodak" on the back.