lansbury

There will not be any problems at the POE. You will politely point out you have been married for over two years, and ask to be admitted in category IR-1. The CBP officer will either type a C or I into the computer. That is all that happens at the POE. The proof needed will be in that big envelope the Embassy will give you to bring with you to give to the CBP officer.

A few weeks later the GC arrives and it will either be a 10 year or a 2 year one, depending on what the CBP officer typed. If you get a 2 year one, you return it pointing out the error and document the fact you landed in the US after you second anniversary.

Don't mess with the London interview date, that has potential to be a problem as well.

jeffreyhy

The immigration category written on the visa will (should) be based the age of the marriage at the time the visa application is approved, or at the time the visa is issued, I'm not sure which.

The immigration status that you will receive when you enter the USA will depend on the age of your marriage at the time you enter, without regard to anything the CBP officer writes in your passport or in your file.

You may wish to:
- ask the consular officer to hold off approval for a day so that the visa will have IR1 written on it (at the risk that the consular officer forgets and your application starts to gather dust instead of being approved),
- or discuss with the CBP officer that although your visa is marked CR1 you are actually IR1 based on your date of entry,
-or simply wait until your green card arrives in the mail, and file an I-90 if your green card says Conditional Permanent Resident.

Regards, JEff

JSL8610

Hi Lisa,

In the end I had my interview a week before my 2nd anniversary. I was given CR1 category. I meant to ask the CO if there was any way to delay the processing and be given IR1 instead, but was so pleased just to be approved that I completely forgot. I'm not travelling to the US for at least another month so I haven't yet had the pleasure of asking the PoE officer to change it but hopefully it will be as easy as showing our marriage certificate. I'll let everyone know how it goes...

James

lisaleeds

Thanks everyone, I think I'll probably ask if they can delay the approval/processing for a day so that I meet the IR-1 requirements. If the CO is as scary as passport control in the US though I might reconsider...

James, please let me know how everything goes - I'd be really interested to hear a recent report.

jeffreyhy

Point of clarification - the CBP officer does not change anything. If you enter the USA after your second wedding anniversary you immediately become a Permanent Resident, not conditional, the law says so. A clerical error by a CBP officer does not change the law.

If the CBP officer does make a mistake, and you receive a Conditional Permanent Resident ID card, you submit an I-90 to have the mistake corrected.

Regards, JEff

JSL8610

Good info. Cheers Jeff

lisaleeds

Hi everyone,

Apologies for pestering you all again but I have a quick question ahead of my CR-1 interview on Monday.

My husband (USC) lives and works in the UK and therefore does not have an income in the US (my father-in-law is co-sponsor so hopefully this should not be a problem). So, my question is: should my husband's current income on the I-864 be listed as 'zero'? Currently we have the form completed with his UK income translated into dollars, but after reading various threads on this forum I am concerned that we have filled it out incorrectly. Although he is transferring to the US with his current company we do not have any evidence of this as we did not want to put the 'formal transfer request' in until after the visa had been approved.

Anyway, if anyone knows the correct way to complete this form please let me know. I thought I was 100% ready for the interview until 10 minutes ago


Thanks!

Noorah101

You are correct, he should list his current UK income where it asks for current income.

Rene

jeffreyhy

Point of clarification - your father-in-law is joint sponsor.
No. As his US tax return(s) will document, his current income is not zero. Regards, JEff

lisaleeds

Hi, thanks for your speedy replies.

Yes, I meant joint-sponsor not co-sponsor. I will leave it as it is then with his current UK income translated into dollars (as documented in his tax return). To be on the safe side I will bring a second I-864 form to the interview with 'zero' listed. Probably completely unnecessary but better to be prepared.

Three days and counting!!

Thanks for your advice.

jeffreyhy

Shouldn't be necessary. The consular officer will have pen, if they want to see $0 they will cross out his number and enter a 0.

Regards, JEff

JSL8610

My wife was working in the UK when I had my interview. She put zero on her I-864. To be honest, I don't think it will make a difference either way - the CO is likely to be more interested in your Joint Sponsor's I-864. Besides, if the CO is unhappy with whatever you put, they can change it.

lisaleeds

Hi everyone,

Had my interview this morning and the visa has been approved! So happy! In the end I was issued the IR-1 with it being our 2 year anniversary tomorrow. Didn't even have to ask - she told me. Everything was really straight forward and I didn't need half of the documents I'd prepared. Still, better safe than sorry.

Thanks to everyone for your advice over the past few weeks - it has been much appreciated

holly2234

Congrats!! Thats great news

JSL8610

To follow up:

To the surprise of absolutely nobody, my green card arrived exactly 3 weeks after I arrived in the US with the (incorrect) CR1 category, even though I saw the officer at the PoE write IR1 on several pieces of paper (no idea what they were).

Filing form I-90 tomorrow. The journey continues...

On the bright side, my social security card arrived after just 2 trips to the local SSA office.