Green Card Application Form

Question:

My wife: An american citizen Me: New Zealander, with HIB visa (until 2008).

I met my wife here in the US, we reside in the same house, been married for a month. Both divorced.

Am I correct in my wife filing:

Form I-130 Form G-325A (both of us) My photograph Our divorce certificates Marriage certificate Copy of my I-94

I don't think I need to file the I-485 until I get a immigrant visa number, is that correct?

Answer:

You think wrong.

One question for the I-485 form, is the I64 # (part1) the same as the nonimmigrant visa number (part 3)?

Back to the phone tomorrow for more Q&A

Timothy, visit uscis.gov and look in the how Do I section for Adjustment of Status (or follow through Green Card links). Don't forget your medical and I-864, in case those are not detailed. Look carefully for what documents go with each form. Calling the 1-800# is a path to errors.

That's incorrect.

Yip, have been doing.

I am now completing the forms with my wife, just trying to ensure that I am filling them out properly. Thats when I think you play it safe and get a lawyer! For example, with the question above what is your I-94 number and what is your non-immigrant visa number?

Your I-94 number is on your I-94. Your non-immigrant visa number is on your H1b visa.

But maybe you do need a lawyer... ;)

Nah, this is a learning experience but not as hard as it seems and certainly not worth paying $2000 for a lawyers Porsche. Just takes time and asking the right questions along the way.

I-94 is the departure number on your departure card and the non-immigrant visa number is the lttle red number on the visa issued by the government. What confused me was that the I-94 number can change after submission of your application if you decide to go for a holiday or business and leave the US. In fact, after talking to at least two different representatives, this doesn't matter. You don't need to update your I-94 to USCIS when you return.

Lawyers must really lap this stuff up as easy dollars.

Firstly from one Kiwi to another congrats on your recent marriage. Dealing with USCIS can be a little daunting but really isnt all that bad. Sometimes it seems that its a long winding road with no end in sight but its really just a road filled with the odd bump & hurdle etc that with patience can be overcome.

The forms do not request the difference between the I-94 and the Non- immimgrant visa number. IMHO, that particular number is totally irrelevant to your application.

As to each individual number: The I-94 number is obvious. However, you are correct in noting the problem in calculating the difference since a non-immigrant visa has not one, but TWO numbers thereon. It is a matter of dispute as to whether to use the pre-printed number on the visa blank or the "control number." The confusion arises from the fact that the old "Bourrouhs" visas DID have a number noted at "visa number."

As a practical matter, since you are providing a photocopy of the NIV in anyways, EITHER number can be used.

I know that your choice of what NIV number to use will change your calculation of the difference, I wouldn't worry about it.

There you go again! Making assumptions. He does not NEED to do the I- 485. If he wants, he can do an Immigrant Visa process in New Zealand. He doesn't have to adjust in the United States. Just like whether he choses to use a lawyer or not, his path is up to HIM.

You may think that is an idiotic way to proceeding. I, for one, would not recommend it. But choice remains his.

I have nothing about DIY ["do it yourself"] -- the choice is yours. And for many marriage cases, a lawyer is often a convenience. The analogy I use is for tax returns -- you can use software, do it yourself, go to H&R Block, or hire a CPA or Tax Lawyer. There all kinds of reasons to make the suitable choice.

It seems that you are concerned with how a lawyer might earmark her fees. Would it make you more comfortable if your fee is earmarked for a small portion of one of their children's college education? Perhaps the rent for the office space? The secretary/paralegal's salary? The phone bill? Payments AILA, Thomson/West? Just curious.

$2000? Porsche? Easy? That price seems a bit high. I drive a 10-year old GMC Jimmy and have no plans to get rid of it or buy another vehicle. Yes, filling our answers on forms is usually easy. But that is just one of the first tasks with any given case, and the tricky part is knowing what to list, tailoring the evidence for the client's unique case, spotting problem issues that the client might never know exist, and most importantly, following up with the CIS and/or Consulate when/if they screw up. One does not need a complicated case for them to make mistakes, and I believe anybody who reads the group for a while will recognize the truth of this reality. Meant to say I am uncomfortable "contributing" $2000 of my hard earned money. For my situation it is relatively easy once you take time to carefully read the forms and ask the right questions. BUT: i do agree that in such an important process that there is room for something going wrong.