Married my partner who is a US Citizen. I have no idea what to do next? - Page 2

Originally Posted by hopeful3

Hi Txgirl, I was told the same thing. A lawyer told me that a Waiver was still required after curing EWI via Advanced Parole. She said it was easier to get it, but that it still was required for the time with no status. Was no waiver required for the 2 pending cases you are talking about. I thought that coming back to the US using advanced parole would help you avoid the waiver process.
I feel like a lot of lawyers do not have full information of what the process is.

Originally Posted by j_cis1011

My wife was able to get her green card upon re-entering with AP. When our lawyer submitted the I-130 & I-485, he was required to send a copy of my wife's stamped passport to prove that she entered the country legally. I don't think he had to submit a waiver for that.

In the meantime, you and your partner might want to start gathering your proof of legit marriage. My wife and I had to show pictures, joint bank accounts, co-leasing agreements, etc. You should consult a good immigration lawyer that actually keeps up with new laws. Some lawyers are not sure about your options because they're misinformed or don't keep up to date with new laws. My wife's case was the first in our lawyer's buffet, but he planned it out for us before she was even approved for DACA and told us about the possibilities. Thanks to our lawyer, my wife had her green card a year after receiving DACA.

Originally Posted by txgirl

So far none of our TPS Adjustment have required a I601 except for 1 and that was use to waive a POM, otherwise none. One of our DACAs Adjustments have their interview on 04/17/2014 I will report back on the outcome.

Originally Posted by hopeful3

Pardon my ignorance but what does POM stand for? Also, do you have to go to your country of birth when using AP? What if work/school related and not to your country of birth.
BTW, thank you for all your help, and looking forward on hearing about the AOS interview on the 17th.

Originally Posted by hopeful3

Hi, j_cis1011

Congratulations, I am attempting to do the same procedure myself, but because its such a new procedure would you mind helping me and others outlining the steps you and your wife went through to obtain her GC.
A couple of questions that come up to mind are,
Was she EWI, or overstayed visa? Did you submit any documentation before her departing the country with AP? How long did the process take after coming back into the country? Any issues you went through.

Originally Posted by j_cis1011

My wife had an EWI. The whole process was done through our lawyer, so I don't remember the forms that he submitted, but the process was pretty easy. As a lot of you know, it's not that hard to get AP once you get DACA. My wife had to get AP because her mother was sick and the only proof she had to submit was one letter from the hospital that her mother was in. We went to Mexico for 3 days in September and when she returned, homeland security stamped her Mexican passport which was her proof of legal entrance. We didn't submit her petition until early December because we had to gather all our proof of legit marriage and the money for fees. But in January we received a letter saying that our interview with immigration was in the 3rd week of February. After the interview, the immigration officer said that my petition had been accepted, but that they had to review the proof and they would let us know within 30 days if my wife would be approve for residency. About 2 weeks later, my wife's green card arrived in the mail.

Originally Posted by j_cis1011

I forgot to mention in regards to your AP question. If you get approved, they will send you a letter which has your information and the dates in which you can travel (my wife was given a 3-4 week window I think). You have to take that letter with you as that is your ticket back in. For your records, I suggest making a copy of it before using it. You don't need to show the letter when you depart. But when you return, the airline from your native country will need to see it and when you re-enter the U.S., homeland security takes it from you.

Originally Posted by j_cis1011

Thank you. The interview was pretty easy. I think it varies depending on who interviews you. My wife's cousin actually had her interview 6 months before we did in the same office and her interview was very different from ours.

Our interview was about 15 minutes long. The only thing they asked me (the petitioner) was my name, my parents' names and my phone number (that was literally it for me). As for my wife, they asked her how long we had been together, about her entrances into the U.S. and about her entrance through AP. Then they asked her questions (more of a formality) like of she had ever sold drugs, been part of terrorist group, etc. They do ask you to prove your marriage is not a sham. Our lawyer put together a packet that had all our stuff including pictures of us together from 7 years ago and bills that we had together under both names and joint bank accounts. Even with our lawyer's packet we still took the originals to the interview just in case.

My wife's cousin's interview was different though. I'm assuming because they went a less prepared, she said their interview took about 45 minutes. They asked them which side of the bed each one sleeps on and what was the color of each other's toothbrushes. They didn't take any evidence with them (even though their lawyer did), so my wife's cousin got a huge lecture about how they need to act more like a married couple because they didn't even have pictures of each other in their cell phones. They still got approved, but their interview wasn't as easy as ours.

I guess it just depends on the interviewer and what evidence you provide. If you do submit the application through a lawyer, ask your lawyer for a copy of everything you submitted before the interview just to be safe because most of the things that they ask you will be based off your application such as dates you entered the country, places where you've lived, etc.

A list of the evidence we provided:
- marriage license
- 15 to 20 pictures of us together (with date)
- lease agreement with both of our names
- 1 joint bank account
- taxes that we filed together as married (1 year)
- 2 billing statements with both of our names