infotec28

ok,

I am sure that this post will be riddled with criticisms etc, but none of this matters as long as we can get some thoughts here.


My wife and I decided that it was time to get out of the US since she was 7 months pregnant and had no medical insurance in the US. It wasn't an easy decision, but we are confident that we made the right one for now.

Like it or not, we did acheive a full fee waiver on forms I-485, I-765, I-130 and I-131 from the US government based on reasonable premises.

My wife was going to have her biometrics taken for EAD on the 14th of february, but we did not even have a phone line to call USCIS and tell them that we were leaving.

We left the 4th of February 2004.

As far as where I got the money for us to leave the US for you impending critics...I had to use the last bit of my credit to get two plane tickets the hell out of there.

As far as my rights to reside in the UK are concerned I have a spousal settler's visa so that part is fine.

However,

I did have to leave behind my 4 year old son from a previous marriage (visitation rights were being destroyed by a rich and malicious ex wife anyway) so when I get on my feet again we would like to go back to the US to fight for him.

I have already gone to the DCF page and it is awesome.

The only reason that I am posting here is because of the headcount and exposure, combined with the fact that my wife and I did begin AOS here.

A few questions though:

1) My wife's AOS application receipt was received on December 10th just 10 days shy of the 180 day overstay 3 year bar. I understand that the overstay clock stopped then. Did it somehow restart, or might it start restarting again soon? We missed the biometrics appointment on the 14th of February as we departed for the UK on the 4th of February. (Also the airline took her I-94w at the airport on the US side) When we got to the UK they never stamped her passport as entering the UK. (Wondering if that is a bad thing or a good thing...bad I am guessing)

2) My wife was granted a fee waiver for her AP on December 10th but as of February 4th we did not receive it from USCIS. Instead of going the DCF route could we not ask US immigration to send over her AP to the UK to give her the potential to head back to the US at any time?

3) In prior posts I have read that overstay is "forgiveable" during the DCF process. How forgiveable is it, and does she stand a good chance at the DCF process? Is there anything to forgive and is it possible that she is not at all even barred?

4) Is the fee waiver process applicable to DCF as well? Not saying I would need to do it again (but just in case) as there are plenty of jobs here HOORAY!!

5) If she received permanent residency via the DCF in London, is there a time limit that she would have to return to the US by?


Thanks for any advice.

FlyergirlUK

If she is using a UK passport then they won't stamp it on return to the UK, so no worries there.

Impossible I'm afraid, the AP must be filed and acquired in the US i.e. it must be in hand before you leave the country.

Can't help you with the rest as I don't know the 'ins and outs' of the DCF process and legalities.
Your best bet would be to get in contact with the US Embassy in London to get more details, email is best.

Best wishes

Tam

meauxna

hi info, glad to hear the 2 (almost 3!) of you are OK. I know you've agonized a lot this year. Are you already planning a return to the US?
If/when the time comes for you to DCF, your wife will have 6 months after approval/issue to use her visa. As to your other issues, you'll have to carefully count the days to determine overstay. The only thing I can offer is to now, while it's fresh in your mind, write down a narrative with *facts* about your process so far. Save evidence of your wife's entry (other than passport stamp) to show when she returned to the UK. This all might help you re-construct events when it comes time to fill out forms again.

Glad to hear things look good for you there...go get 'em!

infotec28

thank you so much for the encouragment from you both!

I am planning on returning when the time is right to the US only because of my 4 year old son from the previous marriage....but things seem so much brighter out here that would be the only reason....

I don't have a job yet, but I have only been looking for 2 weeks and got a pc only 3 days ago...even then, I get phone calls showing interest in my CV about every 2 days (was about once every 2 months in the US)

Shouldn't be too long now!

CaliforniaBride

Advance parole is NOT required if your wife came here on a K3 visa as a spouse. I'm assuming that se came here on a K1 as a fiancee, then she WOULD require AP.

CB

infotec28

Actually in our case, neither apply as she came as a tourist on a visa waiver and we married then began AOS based on that...thanks for your thoughts

jeffreyhy

FgUK and Info,

Yup, that's why it's called advance parole - one must obtain their parole to re-enter in advance of leaving.

Regards, JEff

infotec28

cool everyone and thanks

now the 6 months to get over *might* pose a problem for her to use her DCF Visa tstates...the reason is that there is no way on earth that I would go back to the United States without having a job available for me on the other side.....this is due to previous and consistent experiences of having it take a minimum of 6 months in the United States for me to find a job at any capacity...could I reapply if things went that way i.e taking more than 6 months?

what would a fiance visa accomplish as we are both in the UK?
anything?

thanks

Bluegrass Lass

Nothing because she is no longer a fiancee, but your wife.

infotec28

duhhhrrrr right!!!

what about the rest of my question......lets say she doesnt use the visa in 6 months? is it easy and/or quick to reapply?

thanks

LucyMO

You'll have to start the process from the beginning. That's why it's an immigrant visa (permission to enter) -- if you don't enter within the time period allowed, you forfeit it.