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No, you shouldn't translate the documents yourself; USCIS generally doesn't like translations given by someone who has a clear benefit from the application. Basically, the point of getting documentation is to corroborate the information that you have already provided in the forms. If the officer gets a document they can't read themselves, and the only thing with it is a letter from you saying 'Hey this totally confirms that thing I told you, I promise' it's not really any different than accepting what you told them with no other evidence at all. If you were prepared to lie on the forms, you would just lie on the translation as well, right? So the translation should be provided by someone who isn't directly benefiting from the application. It doesn't have to be a professional or a service, it can be anyone who speaks the language and English fluently. If you have friends who are fluent, they can do it. Otherwise you could try a local consular office, a university that has courses on that language (helps if you have some connection to one). This isn't really something spelled out in regulations or guidance, and it's not really a firm requirement, it's just a practice pointer - I would bet that there are any number of people who have gone ahead and submitted their own translations and had their cases approved because the officer didn't notice (or didn't care). The thing is, if an officer does care, he will go ahead and hit you with a Request for Evidence for it, which slows down your case. That's a pain, but the real reason we try so hard to avoid RFEs is that inevitably when the officer finds a reason to issue one, they'll throw in a half-dozen other questions that they were going to overlook, but now that they are sending you a request anyway... When it comes down to it, the cost of a professional translation for a document isn't too harsh, so this would only be an issue if you are trying to do something like translate 500 pages of chatlogs or something like that. That could be problematic because it would prohibitive to pay for it all, and you would be hard pressed to get a friend to commit to that. Solis posted:I've been entering as a tourist basically since. I work in Canada, but I fly down to the USA for CE opportunities and conferences etc currently. They've never really given me trouble per se at the border it's always literally been 'what do you do for a living? How long are you staying?', I guess they flagged me as potentially seeking employment in the US?
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Jan 21, 2014 22:14
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Cuatal posted:Yeah I've been using VisaJourney lately, thanks for all the help here too. What are you trying to translate? Since you appear to be dealing with China, my guess is it involves the notarial birth certificate or Chinese marriage certificate? If so, your local notarial office (公证处) should be able to handle that for you (for a fee).
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Jan 21, 2014 22:48
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Ashcans posted:Honestly those sound like very normal questions for regular entry. Are you actually getting pulled into secondary? (As in, led off from the regular queue and held off for a second conversation with a senior officer after the first interaction with an agent). Nothing you have said seems like you should have additional trouble in the future with moving to another status (like TN). Just pay attention to your entries and listen if the officer gives you any warnings or advice (its not uncommon for a good officer to notice something and try to help someone out. The ones who aren't being dicks, that is). Every time I go through the queue I get referred to a second additional queue, where I'm asked more detailed questions about my income and employment. When I try to use Global Entry or NEXUS I am instructed to see an immigrations officer. It's not unusual questions, which is frustrating, but when I asked a border officer why it kept happening he told me it was because I'd been refused entry once and it'd be a while before it stopped happening. It's good to know it shouldn't interfere with anything else though
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Jan 22, 2014 01:46
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What are the benefits, and/or drawbacks of becoming a citizen, over being a permanent resident?
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Jan 22, 2014 02:55
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Theparker posted:What are the benefits, and/or drawbacks of becoming a citizen, over being a permanent resident? Citizens are eligible for certain government jobs that permanent residents can't get, and are more likely to get security clearances. They can vote in elections. They also can't be deported for criminal convictions. They can get a US passport which may allow visa-free travel to more places than one's current passport. On the other hand, they can get called up for jury duty.
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Jan 22, 2014 05:11
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Immigration officer says we can translate stuff ourselves and nowhere in any of the directions states otherwise, I also have nobody that can translate stuff here. Her birth certificate comes with an English copy though, so it would only be our marriage licenses and her bank account statement that we'd be translating, off the top of my head. I also thought the requirements stated somewhere you must provide evidence that the translator is competent to translate, which if that's the case pretty much narrows it down to me out of everyone I know. If I wanted to just get some random person that knows how to say ni hao to say they translated stuff that I already translated, would they just write that "I <name> certify that I am fluent in English and etcetcetc" and then stick that on there? Do we need an actual handwritten signature? Could they sign it and scan it or something? What if we I translated it and we got it notarized? Can we just notarize everything? Cuatal fucked around with this message at 16:42 on Jan 22, 2014 |
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Jan 22, 2014 15:38
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Powerlurker posted:Citizens are eligible for certain government jobs that permanent residents can't get, and are more likely to get security clearances. They can vote in elections. They also can't be deported for criminal convictions. They can get a US passport which may allow visa-free travel to more places than one's current passport. On the other hand, they can get called up for jury duty. There are a few more benefits to being a citizen instead of a permanent resident: - You can stay abroad for more than 12 months without having to request a re-entry permit, and without the risk of USCIS considering your residency abandoned - No need to notify USCIS whenever you move - No need to renew green card every 10 years - Kids are automatically citizens regardless of where they were born (kids of permanent residents who are born abroad need to meet certain criteria to obtain permanent residency for themselves automatically) - Permanent residents can only sponsor green cards to spouses and unmarried children. Citizens can sponsor green cards to all of those, plus married children, siblings, and parents (once you reach 21).
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Jan 22, 2014 17:04
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Cuatal posted:
A normal notary can just notarize that they saw people sign stuff. So if you got the random person who can say ni hao to go in with you to the notary, they could notarize that this person signed the thing. Whether or not that is sufficient for the application I cannot say, but I would definitely suggest paying a translation service to do it so that you don't risk more scrutiny and delay on your application.
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Jan 22, 2014 18:14
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Cuatal posted:I also thought the requirements stated somewhere you must provide evidence that the translator is competent to translate, which if that's the case pretty much narrows it down to me out of everyone I know. pre:Certification by Translator
I __________________, certify that I am fluent in the English and ________ languages,
and that the attached document is an accurate translation of the document
attached entitled ______________________________.
Signature_________________________________
Date Typed Name
Address
quote:If I wanted to just get some random person that knows how to say ni hao to say they translated stuff that I already translated, would they just write that "I <name> certify that I am fluent in English and etcetcetc" and then stick that on there? Seriously, if you absolutely can't find anyone to help you with this (does none of her family speak English? Did you not make any English/Chinese speaking friends in China? You can do this by mail, you know) then just pay someone. At $27 a page (and I bet you can find lower, that was literally my first hit) this is peanuts compared to your filing fees and other costs. Edit: Haha, I just remembered that you are the guy filing an adjustment off a B entry. Seriously, do you really want to give an officer any reason to take another look at your case and risk cracking open a question of intent? Ashcans fucked around with this message at 20:10 on Jan 22, 2014 |
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Jan 22, 2014 19:49
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Cuatal posted:Immigration officer says we can translate stuff ourselves and nowhere in any of the directions states otherwise, I also have nobody that can translate stuff here. Her birth certificate comes with an English copy though, so it would only be our marriage licenses and her bank account statement that we'd be translating, off the top of my head. If there's a Chinatown or similar immigrant enclave near you, there will be a number of small businesses that specialize in immigration documentation that can translate for you for a fee.
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Jan 22, 2014 20:27
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I’m a foreign national that currently resides in California on a student visa. My studies conclude at the end of this year, and my visa expires six months after that. I’d like to get a job in California when I graduate (I might actually have a job lined up). What kind of paperwork do I need to fill out so I can legally stay and work in the U.S.? Do I want a work permit, a citizenship, a green card, a permanent residency? What’s the difference between them all? Can you point me towards some helpful sources of information on this subject? Can you give me a step-by-step guide on what needs to happen? If it helps my case at all, let’s assume that I have a prospective employer who is prepared to sponsor my application. Unfortunately, he’s not sure what needs to happen either, so I’m lending a hand by figuring this stuff out for him.
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Jan 26, 2014 07:51
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Went to Hell posted:I’m a foreign national that currently resides in California on a student visa. My studies conclude at the end of this year, and my visa expires six months after that. I’d like to get a job in California when I graduate (I might actually have a job lined up). What kind of paperwork do I need to fill out so I can legally stay and work in the U.S.? Do I want a work permit, a citizenship, a green card, a permanent residency? What’s the difference between them all? Can you point me towards some helpful sources of information on this subject? Can you give me a step-by-step guide on what needs to happen? First of all, it doesn't matter when your visa expires. The visa is only relevant for entering the country. Your status here depends on your i-20 (if you have an f1 visa) or ds-2019 (if you have a J1) document and your student status. Once your studies end, you have 60 days to change your status or leave the country, regardless of the validity of your visa. Second, the best thing to do in your case would be to request an OPT once you get close enough to graduation. OPTs are valid for 12 months (sometimes more depending on field) and allow you to work for that period. Most foreign students do that, because work visas can take a while to process. So your best bet is to get the OPT, then get your employer to request an H1B for you.
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Jan 26, 2014 17:12
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Theparker posted:What are the benefits, and/or drawbacks of becoming a citizen, over being a permanent resident? To piggyback on this question can anyone here give me an idea of how hard the citizenship test is? I have my 10 year greencard and I want to become a citizen but I am a pretty terrible test taker and it scares me. English is my first language but I grew up in an area with a high French population plus we took French classes in school starting in grade 3 and didn't take English classes until high school. Anyway my grammar is a terrible Frankenstein of the two languages.
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Jan 26, 2014 18:07
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Went to Hell posted:I’m a foreign national that currently resides in California on a student visa. My studies conclude at the end of this year, and my visa expires six months after that. I’d like to get a job in California when I graduate (I might actually have a job lined up). What kind of paperwork do I need to fill out so I can legally stay and work in the U.S.? Do I want a work permit, a citizenship, a green card, a permanent residency? What’s the difference between them all? Can you point me towards some helpful sources of information on this subject? Can you give me a step-by-step guide on what needs to happen? Good lord, you need to hit up Google and Wikipedia a little bit before asking questions. It'll benefit you in that you can ask better questions and get more useful replies. Also makes people feel you're not just half-assing the thing. It doesn't sound like you have looked up the relevant terms in the slightest (hint: "green card" and permanent residency are the same), so I really recommend you do so now. Generally in these matters, you'll have to determine what you want, what you can get and how to get there. In your specific case, from what I know, OPT can't be wrong. You can then try to find an employer to file for an H-1B for you. Note that there's an annual cap involved. You may be exempt from the cap if you've got an advanced degree and are going to be working in academia. Good luck. There may be other options that apply in your case, but nothing comes to mind from your post. And really, do take this seriously if you want to succeed.
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Jan 27, 2014 02:39
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Also you probably have an advisor (the person who signed your I-20) at the place you are studying that you can go and talk to. They can help explain the OPT process to you and could also probably help determine if you could switch over to a J-1 visa after your OPT runs out (if you end up getting employed as a post-doc, for instance).
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Jan 27, 2014 02:43
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Are we supposed to staple additional papers for questions that we did not have enough space to complete or use paperclips or something else? Are we supposed to staple the forms themselves together since they're all multiple pages? I can't get to the bottom of this since Google and various forums have people saying they stapled them, some saying paperclips, some who just threw everything in labeled folders (which we're planning on doing anyway, even if we staple them), and a bunch of other stuff. Also for the passport style pictures, we're planning on just paperclipping them to the proper forms, is that a good idea? I feel so ridiculous asking questions like this but this whole process has a lot of ridiculous stuff anyway.
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Jan 29, 2014 15:52
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I paperclip everything together, but you can staple it as well. I actually staple specific things like checks (to the form) and it's fine. I wouldn't paperclip photos though, because the metal can drag on the photo and scratch it up during transit/removal; put them in an envelope or I guess use those plasticized clips so as not to risk it. We use special clear envelopes that we buy in bulk, so it's not really a solution for you. Here is One Crazy Fact USCIS Doesn't Want You to Know!! (except they actually do) - when your application is received by USCIS, before it is ever seen by an officer or anyone who is actually employed by DHS, it is opened by a third-party contractor who takes the whole thing apart and re-arranges it into a specific order, and then feeds it into a document scanner. Most of the time the officer only actually reviews this electronic version, and the physical file is only pulled for final tasks/when the copy sucks. What does this mean? Make your application packet contractor and scanner friendly. Don't put it in a ring binder or use prong fasteners, because you are just making work for the dude. Don't do anything to the forms that makes it hard to feed them into a scanner. Double-siding is generally ok, but try to be consistent because I think having one double-sided document in a single-sided packet can trip people up. Mostly it's important to make sure that your application is held together somehow and not just stuffed loose into the envelope - if something falls out/gets stuck in the envelope, it's not like the officer is going to be able to pull open their trash can to check; its lost to the mail room and they'll have to RFE you for it.
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Jan 29, 2014 17:17
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About to submit the green card application! One final question: do I have to submit both my birth certificate and my passport to prove I'm a US citizen, or just one of those?
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Jan 30, 2014 18:38
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There is really no downside to including both, but just one of them is fine. Most of the time I end up using a passport because lots of people have no idea where their actual birth certificate is, and have just been renewing their passports from previous passports for years.
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Jan 30, 2014 19:02
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I'm going to be moving to the US shortly on a TN visa from Canada. Is there any gotchas or other hiccups I should watch out for?
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Feb 1, 2014 03:04
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That's a pretty broad question. Make sure you carry some cash - you can't pay the application fee by card (at least not everywhere). Make sure you have all your documentation in order, including a copy of your degree/license/etc. and a resume. Remember that TN is not an immigrant-intent status, so you should be intending to return to Canada at the end of your employment period and not spending the rest of your life in the US. People forget that because the TN is not time-limited, and it can make a nasty problem.
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Feb 1, 2014 05:03
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Ashcans posted:That's a pretty broad question. Make sure you carry some cash - you can't pay the application fee by card (at least not everywhere). Make sure you have all your documentation in order, including a copy of your degree/license/etc. and a resume. I've heard horror stories from people who were brought here at a young age on their parents E-2 visas (because it's cheaper than an EB-5) and then graduate high school and find themselves unable to attend college in the US because they're technically international students or they age out at 21 and all of a sudden have no status at all in the US.
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Feb 1, 2014 05:54
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Yea, the non-time-limited statuses like Es and TNs can be nice, but they often lure people into being complacent and not really thinking about their situation much beyond the next renewal. Which can result in stuff like, as you mentioned, their kids ending up getting screwed out of options. I have also seen really unfortunate situations where someone has been in TN for ages, and then one crossing the officer asks a couple questions and suddenly they're denied entry for immigrant intent and they have no idea what the gently caress (half the time they didn't even realize that was a restriction on TNs and now they have a house and a mortgage and god knows what else) The worst is when something like that happens and the person freaks out, and hits half a dozen different entries trying to get back to the US. Then they get flagged for entry shopping as well, guaranteeing that whatever they try to do is going to get maximum scrutiny. 
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Feb 1, 2014 21:33
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The USCIS received my I-130 on September 24, 2013. I'm a citizen of the US and my husband is from the UK. Neither of us were married before, and neither of us have criminal records or anything that would complicate it. I'm hoping it'll take a few more months, but people keep telling me horror stories about how it could take years for him to get a green card. 
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Feb 1, 2014 21:35
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Clochette posted:The USCIS received my I-130 on September 24, 2013. I'm a citizen of the US and my husband is from the UK. Neither of us were married before, and neither of us have criminal records or anything that would complicate it. I'm hoping it'll take a few more months, but people keep telling me horror stories about how it could take years for him to get a green card. I was in a similar situation as you; I think all told, including a dumb mistake on my part (photocopy rather than original sponsor signature on a document at the interview at the embassy), it took about eight months from start to finish. "Getting a green card" isn't an issue since immigrant spouse visas automatically confer permanent residency - the visa itself states that it acts as a temporary I-551 ("green card") with a validity of one year - ie until the real card arrives in the mail. As long as your spouse isn't like Chinese or Indian or one of those other countries USCIS views with more suspicion than others, you should have no problem - and since your spouse is British... should be no problem! Edit: you haven't gotten a NOA or anything yet? Could be a bit longer, anyways. I can't remember exactly when I sent everything off but it looks like I got important emails from NVC/USCIS/etc on May 23rd 2012 (NOA1?), June 6th 2012 (NOA2?), July 12 2012 (moved to next step: sort your documents and all that, here's your cover sheet, send everything to NVC), March 20 2013 (docs received, wait for interview date), April 2 2013 (interview date set), May 20 2013 (interview), May 30 2013 (immigrant visa issued). Note that between July and probably January - a six month period - I just sat on my documents since the medical exam can't occur more than like six months before you enter the country, and we weren't quite ready to leave soon. So all told in my case it took just a tiny bit over a year from receiving the documents to issuing the visa, even with me wasting six months in the middle of it all. Sheep fucked around with this message at 23:36 on Feb 2, 2014 |
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Feb 2, 2014 04:03
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Since I see people talking about it in specifics, what's the general process for an American citizen like me to get married to a non-US citizen and have her live with me here in the States? My girlfriend is an international student from Thailand currently in grad school here, and with me locking down a stable job with good pay and her finishing her program by the end of the year, now seems as good a time as any to get ready for question-popping. In a perfect world I would be proposing on our anniversary this fall, but is there anything I can start reading or paperwork I can start working through in order to get a head start on that specific kind of immigration process?
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Feb 2, 2014 04:08
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C-Euro posted:Since I see people talking about it in specifics, what's the general process for an American citizen like me to get married to a non-US citizen and have her live with me here in the States? My girlfriend is an international student from Thailand currently in grad school here, and with me locking down a stable job with good pay and her finishing her program by the end of the year, now seems as good a time as any to get ready for question-popping. In a perfect world I would be proposing on our anniversary this fall, but is there anything I can start reading or paperwork I can start working through in order to get a head start on that specific kind of immigration process? This is probably going to be my situation in the near future, with the caveat that my girlfriend will likely not be in the country when we plan to settle down and get married, so I'm interested in this advice too.
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Feb 2, 2014 04:28
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C-Euro posted:Since I see people talking about it in specifics, what's the general process for an American citizen like me to get married to a non-US citizen and have her live with me here in the States? My girlfriend is an international student from Thailand currently in grad school here, and with me locking down a stable job with good pay and her finishing her program by the end of the year, now seems as good a time as any to get ready for question-popping. In a perfect world I would be proposing on our anniversary this fall, but is there anything I can start reading or paperwork I can start working through in order to get a head start on that specific kind of immigration process? Since she's in the US currently, this is what you want to do: http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide2 It will probably cost you around $1700-1800 for everything (applications fees, lots of photocopies, and the medical exam) if you do the paperwork yourself. Once you start the process, she can't leave the US until it's over unless she applies for and receives advance parole. Depending on how your schedule goes and your mutual expectations, you may want to do a quick civil ceremony to let you get the application started and have a bigger ceremony at a later date if you want to get family and friends involved. Computer Parts: You will want either this guide: http://www.visajourney.com/content/k1guide or this guide http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide1 depending on if you are planning to marry inside or outside the US. The K-1 is if you want to bring her here and then get married here, the CR-1 is if you want to get married elsewhere and then bring her here. Powerlurker fucked around with this message at 04:35 on Feb 2, 2014 |
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Feb 2, 2014 04:33
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Sheep posted:I was in a similar situation as you; I think all told, including a dumb mistake on my part (photocopy rather than original sponsor signature on a document at the interview at the embassy), it took about eight months from start to finish. "Getting a green card" isn't an issue since spouse visas automatically confer permanent residency - the visa itself states that it acts as a temporary I-551 ("green card") with a validity of one year - ie until the real card arrives in the mail. After I sent in the I-130 I received an I-797C Notice of Action, but that's the most recent paperwork I've received from them. According to the USCIS website the case status is still in Initial Review. And everyone said that it would go fast because he's white and British. 
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Feb 2, 2014 04:37
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Clochette posted:After I sent in the I-130 I received an I-797C Notice of Action, but that's the most recent paperwork I've received from them. According to the USCIS website the case status is still in Initial Review. And everyone said that it would go fast because he's white and British. A couple things here. First, the USCIS case tracking thing is kind of crappy, it generally jumps straight from 'Initial Review' to 'Decision' the day your case is determined. It shows a bunch of steps that either won't apply to all cases or never actually get triggered. Don't worry about it. Second, you can check the current USCIS processing times here. I-130s are in some sort of backlog right now, it looks like they're still processing cases filed in March 2013. So no one is even looking at your stuff yet. You can keep an eye on those dates to spot when you're actually getting worked on (more or less). Lastly, being British and white helps some, but almost nothing gets you bumped up the timeline. It just means that when your time comes the officer won't bitch about birth certificates and whatever. (Sidenote: Indians and Chinese get a lot of heat in employment petitions, not so much on adjustments. The people that really get burned are west africans.) C-Euro posted:In a perfect world I would be proposing on our anniversary this fall, but is there anything I can start reading or paperwork I can start working through in order to get a head start on that specific kind of immigration process? In terms of getting ahead, you are going to need things like birth certificates and medical records. It's a good thing to look into this in advance. You don't want to get married, start getting ready to file, and then realize you need a copy of a certificate that's going to take months to get a hold of. Same for vaccination records, if you don't have them you end up having to get a ton of pricks you might have already had. Edit: Oh, and pull up the G-325A and take a look at it - you're going to need to provide five years of residential addresses and work history, so you might want to make sure you can do that, and start digging for info if you aren't sure.
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Feb 2, 2014 05:12
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Cool, she's been here for several years now and is really meticulous about her paperwork so I will start looking into that.Powerlurker posted:It will probably cost you around $1700-1800 for everything (applications fees, lots of photocopies, and the medical exam) if you do the paperwork yourself. Once you start the process, she can't leave the US until it's over unless she applies for and receives advance parole. Depending on how your schedule goes and your mutual expectations, you may want to do a quick civil ceremony to let you get the application started and have a bigger ceremony at a later date if you want to get family and friends involved. We want to do a ceremony here and a ceremony over there, I'm guessing it would be better to do the ceremony here first?
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Feb 2, 2014 05:29
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C-Euro posted:Cool, she's been here for several years now and is really meticulous about her paperwork so I will start looking into that. Do the ceremony here, get her green card and then do the ceremony over there. I wouldn't recommend making any plans for over there until you have either her green card or advance parole card in had. Apparently, Adjustment of Status cases are taking longer nowadays but when my wife and I went through this we didn't get her work authorization card until after her green card interview (when it didn't matter anymore).
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Feb 2, 2014 05:43
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Ashcans posted:A couple things here. First, the USCIS case tracking thing is kind of crappy, it generally jumps straight from 'Initial Review' to 'Decision' the day your case is determined. It shows a bunch of steps that either won't apply to all cases or never actually get triggered. Don't worry about it. Second, you can check the current USCIS processing times here. I-130s are in some sort of backlog right now, it looks like they're still processing cases filed in March 2013. So no one is even looking at your stuff yet. You can keep an eye on those dates to spot when you're actually getting worked on (more or less). Thanks! I recently read this article and I was kind of bummed that they have such a backlog.
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Feb 2, 2014 06:03
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Powerlurker posted:Do the ceremony here, get her green card and then do the ceremony over there. I wouldn't recommend making any plans for over there until you have either her green card or advance parole card in had. Apparently, Adjustment of Status cases are taking longer nowadays but when my wife and I went through this we didn't get her work authorization card until after her green card interview (when it didn't matter anymore). This is all solid advice, don't make big plans overseas until your US stuff is set. Also, you should be getting work/travel authorization in 45-60 days at the moment. USCIS is issuing them as a combined document now, which is nice. Clochette posted:Thanks! I recently read this article and I was kind of bummed that they have such a backlog.
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Feb 2, 2014 21:48
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Sheep posted:"Getting a green card" isn't an issue since spouse visas automatically confer permanent residency - the visa itself states that it acts as a temporary I-551 ("green card") with a validity of one year - ie until the real card arrives in the mail. This must have slipped by Ashcans. Unless it's a new thing, it's absolutely wrong as far as I know (and a quick skim read of the FAQ on Visajourney confirms this). The only way to get permanent residency immediately is direct consular filing, and that requires some conditions being met, such as the petitioner living outside the US. Do you have any source for this?
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Feb 2, 2014 22:39
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flavor posted:The only way to get permanent residency immediately is direct consular filing quote:Do you have any source for this?  The visa itself serves as I-551 ("green card") until the actual card comes in the mail; as soon as you cross the border on a CR- or IR- series visa and the officer stamps your passport and writes down your A# ("registration #" on the visa itself plus a leading "A0") on it, you're a permanent resident. If you're looking at the VJ FAQ on the K- series, the K- series isn't technically an immigrant series, thus why it doesn't confer permanent residency; the main thing they're used for are K-1 ("fiancee visas") applications and getting spouses into the country as fast as possible, then filing for AOS to permanent resident. The IR- and CR- series however are "do the entire process, then immigrate" visas, and automatically confer PR when you enter. Edit: see this guide for VJ's breakdown of the IR/CR process. Basically I should have written "immigrant spouse visas" instead of just "spouse visas" in my original post; I went back and edited it in. Sheep fucked around with this message at 23:40 on Feb 2, 2014 |
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Feb 2, 2014 23:23
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Sheep posted:
Thank you for all this information. I sure didn't know about it and I also surely didn't mention DCF. We're talking about a person who (at least presumably, since she didn't state anything different) is in the US and whose spouse is in the UK. That's where a K-3 would apply. You said ""Getting a green card" isn't an issue since spouse visas automatically confer permanent residency". The K-3 IS a spouse visa. Look, I salute everybody who is lucky enough to be able to do DCF, but the default is the K-3, which doesn't confer permanent residency and that sure as hell is a "spouse visa" if words have meaning.
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Feb 2, 2014 23:44
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flavor posted:Thank you for all this information. I sure didn't know about it and I also surely didn't mention DCF. We're talking about a person who (at least presumably, since she didn't state anything different) is in the US and whose spouse is in the UK. That's where a K-3 would apply. You said ""Getting a green card" isn't an issue since spouse visas automatically confer permanent residency". The K-3 IS a spouse visa. It's important to be clear - if you're eligible to apply for a K-3, you're eligible to apply for a CR-1 or IR-1 as well. The difference is "get in as fast as possible then file for AOS" (K-3) or "get everything sorted, then enter and be a permanent resident" (CR-1/IR-1). Two of the three available spouse visas automatically confer permanent residency upon entering the country, so my statement wasn't exactly incorrect or anything - as I said, I just should have written "immigrant" in front of "spouse visas". The K-3 visa, again, is technically not an immigrant visa (read the second sentence of the VJ FAQ on it, or the Wikipedia page, or the state.gov page on K-3 visas which is entitled "Nonimmigrant Visa for a Spouse (K-3)"), which is why it does not confer permanent residency. I apologize for the confusion but don't get up in arms, please. Edit: VJ has a good comparison of the various filing options for anyone who isn't aware. Sheep fucked around with this message at 00:52 on Feb 3, 2014 |
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Feb 2, 2014 23:50
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Sheep posted:get in as fat as possible Right, good idea to get "in the spirit", particularly if you're not going to live in one of the major cities. Sheep posted:and fail for AOS I realize you caught that one in the edit, but for someone who's splitting hairs about the K-3 (and the K-1, but that's not what the other poster was asking about), those sure are some mistakes, man. Sheep posted:technically not an immigrant visa While true, this isn't helpful. I'm not getting up in arms, it's just that you're splitting hairs about what is "technically" one thing or another and giving people wrong impressions. The fact remains that the K-3 is a spousal visa and that it does not confer permanent residency. Therefore any sentence saying that spousal visas generally do confer permanent residency is wrong. That's all.
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Feb 3, 2014 00:23
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 10:56 |
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You're just being unhelpful and nitpicking over things that have long been fixed now, even despite my apologies. Don't know what to tell you other than 'get over it' at this point. Thanks for the spelling corrections, anyways. Sheep fucked around with this message at 00:28 on Feb 3, 2014 |
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Feb 3, 2014 00:25
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