what next?

[Peter Lee]

Hi
Maricel my wife has just received her passport and is on her way to Kapatagan in the mountains of Mindanao.   She is in good spirits and we want to know what should be worked on next.  1-30 and 1-29 receipts Oct 28th are back and waiting for the approval letter which could be from the end of Dec and up.  
I am getting the affidavit of support ready to send to her I-864 for her records for her future interview.  
Question is:
She has two addresses that can be mailed to her.  One is at her Aunt’s house in Cebu.   The other is at her home in Mindanao where she is staying with her family.  She would like all papers sent to her in Mindanao.   For immigration, which is the best place to receive all her future letters?   I would think it would be ok to have everything sent to her home in Kapatagan in Mindanao.  All I-30 and I-129 have her present mailing at her Aunts in Cebu coz we thought she would wait there.   She really misses her family and wants to stay with them as much as possible.  She wants to help in the construction of the new house which is half done.   If there is an advantage to send all papers to her Aunt’s house in Cebu she could be notified by phone through her sister when papers arrive.  
I have talked with some couples on the phone that have had delays and problems proving income.  One who had just taken off a year to finish his condo in South Florida and showed no income for one year.  He said the fact the condo was his and was valued over 200,000 did not faze them.  They wanted to see W2’s and since he had his own business that was a problem.  He eventually had to get family to co-sponsor his visa application which in the end with monkeying around took over one year to get approved.  He wasn’t happy about it as he said he showed them property and assets.  
I have my own business for 25 years and one year of the past 3 was not so good, that year showed 7,000 in addition to my USAF retired income.  Both totaled 21,400 for the one bad year.   I think I should make the minimum requirements if that is the true guide line they go on.  Any help on this would be appreciated.  
I will be looking forward to any comments or advice that could help me.  Ray’s last post got me moving on the passport but now she is back in the mountains again LOL  
PS Mt. Oppo is a bit south of her so it is another mountain she has to climb to get cell coverage.  

[Humabdos]

... in response to what next?, posted by Peter Lee on Nov 20, 2003

Make sure her name is spelled right and everything is in order on her B/C.
It took Sallie and I three months to get her B/C straighten out.

Hum

[Peter Lee]

... in response to Re: what next?, posted by Humabdos on Nov 20, 2003

Hi Hum,

Thanks for that information, we were lucky and both the NSO birth and marriage certificate were all spelled correct.   I have not seen the passport yet and I will double check that it is also correct.  I have heard of nightmares of problems when the certificates don’t all look the same.   Any way the clock is ticking and I have to wait my time like everyone else.  

[Ray]

... in response to what next?, posted by Peter Lee on Nov 20, 2003

Peter,

Besides the passport, she will need the following stuff for her interview:

Birth certificate on NSO security paper

Marriage certificate on NSO security paper

NBI clearance

I-134 with supporting documentation

4 color visa photos

Evidence of genuine marriage

Medical exam results

Proof of payment for visa fee

The correct affidavit of support for a K-3 is the I-134, not the I-864. I would submit the last 3 years tax returns. Submit photocopies of COMPLETE returns with all attachments. Since you had no W-2, don’t worry about it. Make sure to attach a copy of your 1099-R and everything else. Your CURRENT income is the most important.

The embassy will send her an appointment letter and some forms/instructions to the mailing address you put on your Form I-129F. It’s a little late now to be changing mailing addresses. Anyway, knowing you, you will just want to change it back again in 2 weeks (LOL).

Ray

[Peter Lee]

... in response to Re: what next?, posted by Ray on Nov 20, 2003

Hi Ray thanks,
What is Evidence of genuine marriage?  Would that be pictures of our civil wedding with the judge?  What else would they need?  Registrar’s receipts?  

Thanks I will work on the I-134 today with the last 3 years tax returns photocopies and attachments.  

Thanks about the address info so I will keep that address now in Cebu.  I will not change it back in 2 weeks and surprise you LOL.

[Ray]

... in response to Re: Re: what next?, posted by Peter Lee on Nov 20, 2003

Evidence of a valid marriage will be anything that shows your relationship is real and not just a scam to get her a visa, including:

A sampling of letters, greeting cards, or e-mail from the very first to the latest including any correspondence between you and her relatives or visa-versa.

Copies of phone bills

Receipts for money transfers

Photos of you together

Wedding invitations/photos

Ray

[Peter Lee]

... in response to Evidence, posted by Ray on Nov 20, 2003

Sorry my mind went blank I didn’t think about that as proof.
Yes I have photos of us together and her family, email first to the latest, some snail mail and greeting cards, phone call bills AT&T and copies of the chats.  We only had a civil wedding with the Judge I hope that won’t be a problem.   Yes money transfers and bank statements too.   Maricel has lots of letters from me and she hasn’t been printing out all the email but most of them.   I wonder if we should continue to store more email after the wedding?  At the interview will they ask for proof of marriage of material after the wedding?   That would be a lot of work for nothing if they never ask for that only the wedding and before.  

[Ray]

... in response to Re: Evidence, posted by Peter Lee on Nov 21, 2003

Yes, evidence from the period after the marriage and all the way up to the interview should definitely be included.

Ray

[Peter Lee]

... in response to Re: Re: Evidence, posted by Ray on Nov 21, 2003

okey dokey thanks will do but wow that would be a lot of email and letters.  Maricel has stopped printing out emails from me but I will tell her to start again.  Is there any way to compress this information coz it could be printed pages in the thousands by the time the interview is scheduled?  

Now I have to wait my time for the K3 approval.  The receipt said 2 to 6 months but what I read it could be sooner.  My address for Chicago Il. does that have a data bank of cases to look back on or is it a new address.   I could not find any data on the Chicago office that will handle my papers for approval.  If it is a new address there is no way of knowing how long it will take.

[Ray]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Evidence, posted by Peter Lee on Nov 22, 2003

No Peter, you don’t send ALL of your correspondence, just a SAMPLING! No more that 6-12 pieces of correspondence should be fine. I wouldn’t submit any chat transcripts unless that’s all you have. Make sure that letters or cards are in the original envelopes with postmarks and cover the entire period of your relationship if possible. She should screen them first to make sure they don’t contain anything illegal or extremely embarrassing. Mushy is good though :-). It would be good if she had photos of your family members and your pet turtle.

That Chicago address is just a mail drop where they take out your payment so the government can spend it faster. The K-3 petition is processed in Missouri at the National Benefits Center, which used to be called the Missouri Service Center. I think their last processing report said 3-4 months for a K-3.

Ray

[Peter Lee]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Re: Evidence, posted by Ray on Nov 22, 2003

Ok sounds very reasonable, I will start to gather samplings of our relationship since the start Dec 02 to the interview dates.   I will leave out the chats , gather the photos and snail mails with original envelops and stamps.  What do I do with the letters and email she has sent me?  Do I send that to her before her interview? Or do they only expect letters she has from me?
Thanks for clearing up the Chicago and Missouri thing I had no idea about that.   I looked at some ASAWA samples of K3’s from Missouri and they all seemed in the 4 month range for the interview.   Thanks again

[Ray]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Evidence, posted by Peter Lee on Nov 23, 2003

Peter, most of the ladies just submit letters from their husband/fiance or his family members, so you don't need to send back her letters unless she is short of evidence.

Ray

[Peter Lee]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Evidence, posted by Ray on Nov 25, 2003

Yes I was confused about that thanks again.