eikogs

My wife has been in the US for about 2 years of the needed 3 to begin the neutralization process. I am curious about the requirement or 18 months physical presence. Does that mean cumulative 18 months, or do they have to be consecutive? If we take a trip back to visit her family in China for a few weeks, does that start the clock over? Does she need to hit the 3 year mark before filling out the N-400?

I am helping my mother-in-law to apply for a visitor visa to come to the US. I see multiple suggestions to supply an I-134. We will be sending her the information for her interview over email and I am a bit concerned with the detail the I-134 requires. I don't really want to put my SSN and bank account details all in one place and send it via email, or even in the snail mail system from US to China. How necessary is it to provide all of those details for a visitor visa? Can I leave the SSN blank and not attach the statements or is that poinless? Thanks.

I am US citizen and my wife just got her Green Card. We currently living in Shanghai but moving permanently to the US in July. We would like my father-in-law to come visit us for 5-6 months to help my wife get adjusted to life in the US. My mother-in-law does not want to fly, so it would be only my father-in-law coming at this time. His is currently visiting us in Shanghai so all of his documents are at his home 12 hours away. Would it be a mistake to proceed with a visitor visa interview with only a invitation letter and his ID card? Other documents that he could obtain if we delay the interview are his marriage license, Huko book and a document showing his retirement income. Is there anything else that would he helpful that we are overlooking? I would greatly appreciate any advice and guidance I could get to help prepare him for the interview. He speaks Chinese only. We are hoping for a 10 year visa to keep the doors open to come see us again in the future when we are not living in China and able to help, especially since his home is far from a US Consulate.

I called USCIS and found out the reason we have not received the Green Card is because they have not received the packet of materials from Customs and Boarder Security. I have tried calling the CBS phone number (1-877-227-5511) over 20 times and can't get through. Anyone know of a better number to use, or a more specific office I should be contacting? Our POE was Chicago ORD.

We will be going in to apply for the SSN next week. Looking at the SSA website, it list the required documents. It says "We may use one document for two purposes. For example, we may use a DHS work permit as proof of both immigration status and identity. However, you must provide at least two separate documents." Can the temporary I551 MRIV in the passport count separate from the passport itself? We also have the white book for her birth certificate, but I am concerned that the small town office we will go to will not know what that book is. If we need the count the white book birth certificate as one document, do you know of any "proof" I can take along to help the person at the office understand that we have the documents they need?

Thanks for the info. When I enter the I-130 receipt number, it tells me that they approved my I-130 over a year ago, but nothing for the Green Card. I found a phone number here: https://infopass.uscis.gov/infopass.php Does that look like the right number/office to call?

How long is it taking for others to receive their welcome letter and green card after entering the US? My wife entered on October 2 through ORD and we have not received anything in the mail yet. I did pay the $165 immigration fee the day before we entered. Is there anyplace I can track it online? I found https://egov.uscis.gov/casestatus/landing.do but think I need a receipt number that comes in the welcome letter to use it.

Thanks for the quick answer. As I am looking through the I-131 instructions, I am not seeing anything that describes our situation, and getting a little worried about getting her back in when we return to the states. We entered on October 2 with the IR1 visa, but flew back to China 2.5 weeks later. Will this be an issue when we come to the US in December since I did not file the I-131 before leaving after the POE? If we do get back in with no issues is it critical to get the I-131 filed before heading back to China again. If so, how long do we need to be in the US on that trip to get it all done?

I am an expat working for a US based company in our China office. I started the process of getting my wife's IR1 visa about 2 years ago, as I was unsure when I would have to move back to the US. We finally got everything complete. We had the first POE on October 2 and she got her passport stamped. We were just visiting family on that trip because I am still stationed in China. The POE was on October 2, but we returned to China on the 20th. We will be taking another trip back to the US in December for Christmas, but that will also only be temporary. Are there any additional steps that we need to take to ensure that her visa is not revoked? My job situation could change on short notice, but we are trying to stay in China for about another 18 months. We will be able to continue to travel to the US about every 6 months.

Thanks for the information. The SSA office I went to was in a small town. I don't think they see too many of these come through.

The interview went well and we headed for the US on October 2. Her POE was in Chicago and was very painless. They stamped her passport with the IR1 visa, no issues. When I filled out the application many months ago, I had checked the box to request a SSN at the same time. Other post on CFL let me know that this process may or may not happen automatically, so we waited 2 weeks and head for the SSA office. The lady who helped us there could not find record that my wife's application was already in process, so we asked to apply for one at that time. While we were working through the process, the lady pulled out a list of qualifying visas and could not find IR1 on the list. She told us that in IR1 visa does not allow my wife to work, and therefore she can not get a SSN. Did the person at the SSA office make a mistake, or did we apply for the wrong visa type? Suggestions? Steve

They must have changed this process. I just did it for my wife and did not have to go through all of that. I only have to enter the A-Number & Case number. After that, I could click "pay fee" and used my credit card. I did not have to create and account or upload anything. Let me know if I missed something.

I would like to know if my situation is unusual, we are applying for my wife's green card while still living in China, and not moving immediately. We are hopping she can interview mid-July, then would, then would probably have a visit to the US in October. We hope to get the GC issued at that time. We would probably continue to live in China for a little more than a year from that point. Could that be enough to have them decline her at the time of interview?

We do go to the US at least 2 times per year anyway. She has been there 3-4 times per year for the last 2 years as she had extra visits to take tests. Is there much risk of them not approving her when we go for an interview in July? I have a letter from my company that indicates a January 2017 return to US date. I could probably get the date removed and changed back to a single year extension that would imply a date of February 2016, my anniversary date of my move to China. Would it be better to do that route? I assume the consequence of maintaining it are the same in either case. She will also have her US CPA to show intent to move. Thanks for the information.

We applied for it because my initial contract with my company started in 2009 and was for 3 years. It has been year to year since so I could have been transferred back to the US at any time. As of now, we are looking at moving home in about 18 months. I heard the process could take up to 2 years, so I started early. We want the SSN now because my wife has recently passed all of the necessary exams needed to obtain a US CPA license. In order for her to apply for the license in my home state, she needs the SSN. I started the whole process long before finding CFL. With the information here, I see I could have saved more than a year of wait time, but I did things the hard way and mailed the I-130 petition to the US instead of going to Beijing. Also got locked into submitting everything by mail because I followed the directions given in the order received. It took 18 months from filing the petition to get the notification that we can book the interview. My exception was that we could get it issued and have some flexibility about the move date. Will this be a major issue at the interview if I have a letter from my company that says we would not move for 18 months?