Removing Conditions on Green Card

The first green card that I received after successfully going through the fiancé visa process and applying for permanent residency had conditions attached to it.  Essentially, that just meant that it was valid for only two years rather than ten years (which is the norm for green cards).  That meant that I had to apply for a new green card before the two years had elapsed.

Up until now, everything that I had applied for with regard to the visa and residence had been achieved at first attempt without any additional difficulties or problems, but this time I faced some extra hurdles, which caused me stress, as you will read below.

Sunset over the Atlantic - I would end up flying to the UK knowing that I'd have to re-enter the US with an expired green card!

The Application Process – Form, Evidence, and Fee

Given how long it can take the USCIS to process applications, it would be nice if you could apply for the removal of conditions well in advance, but the rules stipulated that I had to do it no more than 90 days before the conditional green card was due to expire.  It took me nearly a month to gather together all the evidence, however (and I still didn’t send enough the first time – see below).  Plus the fee was substantial: $ 505 and in addition there was another $85 for the biometrics, which made a total of $590.

The document that I needed to fill out at this stage was Form I-751.  The form was fairly succinct and straightforward to fill out, but along with the application, supporting evidence that the marriage is genuine has to be supplied.  

If you’ve been through the fiancé visa process already, then you’ve already done something similar before, but it’s important to note that this time they are specifically looking for evidence covering the relationship for time period since you got married.  (If your marriage is no longer intact, you can still apply in many cases, but obviously the evidence you supply will be different).

Some examples of evidence  that you can give to show genuine marriage is listed below.

Examples of Evidence Required for the Removal of Green Card Conditions: 

1. Birth certificates of children born to you and your spouse.
2. Mortgage contracts or leases showing joint ownership or residency of a property.
3. Financial records of joint bank accounts, loans etc.
4. Copies of jointly submitted tax accounts.
5. Documents that show your spouse as a beneficiary of pensions, insurance policies etc.
6. Joint utility bills.
7. Affidavits signed by American people who know you, testifying that you are a genuine romantic couple.

Gathering evidence wasn’t straightforward for my wife and I.  We haven’t had any children together and we don’t have much by the way of joint ownership, partly because we were both in middle age when we married.  My wife already owns the property where we live and there didn’t seem much point adding me (although if and when we moved, we’d probably put both our names on the document).  My wife wants to pass on her life insurance to her daughter, which is perfectly understandable. 

We therefore relied to a greater extent on things like affidavits, joint tax return, utility bills, etc.   

I sent off the application in June, two months before my green card was due to expire.  I had a plane booked to take me to England in late November, so that I could visit friends and family, which I figured should be enough time to get the new green card.

Not long after I sent in my application, I received a letter saying that my green card had been extended for a year, whilst my application for the removal of conditions was processed.  This letter is important, and you need to hold onto it in my experience – scan it and copy it!

Green Card Problems

My conditional green card expired at the end of August.  I didn’t worry about it too much as I had the letter (secured safely at home) saying that my status had been extended for a year.  That said, I knew that legally, you are supposed to carry a valid green card on you at all times, if you are a permanent resident.

In September, I went on a long road journey to participate in a tennis tournament.  It involved traveling from Florida to Tucson, Arizona, passing through the states of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and New Mexico en route.  I wasn’t concerned about the green card situation as I was traveling within the US and not leaving the country.

What I didn’t know, however, was that there are internal “customs posts” in New Mexico and Louisiana.  These are there mainly to try and catch illegal Mexican immigrants coming into the US via Texas, I believe.  Anyway, I had to pass through them, knowing that I had an out of date green card in my pocket.  Luckily, they waved us through both times without questioning me or checking my documentation.  (If you’re picked up without a green card, you risk long delays and a fine).

Me out in Arizona

After that, I made sure I kept a copy of the letter from the USCIS saying that my residence had been extended for a year in my wallet at all times, as well as my old (expired) green card!

Just over a week before I was about to leave for the UK, I got a letter from the USCIS.  I assumed that it was my replacement green card and felt a huge sense of relief.  But when I opened the envelope, it wasn’t a new card, it was a letter telling me that I’d not sent enough evidence and they needed more.

That effectively meant that I had to travel to the UK with my old expired green card and the USCIS extension letter, and hope that I wouldn’t have any problems getting back into the USA! 

More Evidence

My wife sent off the additional bundle of evidence in early December, whilst I was still in the UK.  This time, we included copies of documents that showed my wife had changed her name after marriage: her social security and driving license; we also gave copies of health insurance showing that we were both included, plus more documents to show that we both lived at the same address.  

The first time round, we have covered just part of the period since we got hitched, but this time we made sure that we covered the entire period, for instance, including joint tax returns for the two years, rather than just the one.  We also included some personal material, such as photos of our marriage, and photos of us holidaying, spending time with friends and family etc. from the period since we got married.

A Family Photo

New Green Card at Last!

I arrived back in the US in late December.  The customs officer did question me pretty thoroughly and keep me waiting a little, but he did let me through after I explained in detail why I had an out-of-date green card and showed him the USCIS letter.  

I got back to my Florida home.  Then it was just a case of waiting for my new green card to arrive in the post.  I must admit that I was more than a little nervous – had I given them enough evidence this time?  A rejection might mean having to make an appeal and there was no way that my wife and I could afford expensive legal representation.  We had given the USCIS all the evidence that we could think of (with the exception of maybe sending some more affidavits from friends saying we were a genuine couple - we sent two, but you can send up to twelve, according to what I read later).  

However, to my relief, I did finally receive an acceptance letter and my new green card in late January.  This card entitles me to 10 years of legal residence and working.  In August, I have the option of applying for US citizenship, should I choose to.  

I am just happy to have a break from all the application stress and expense for the moment, however, as I’m sure most of you will probably understand!

My green card processing timeline

As I mentioned earlier, once I had obtained my K1 Fiance visa, there wasn’t much of a rest before I arrived in the USA, gotmarried and began the next phase of the immigration procedure which included more form filling, appointment attending and evidence gathering for the USCIS.  As the green card processing went on over a period of months, I thought it might be useful to write a summary of it as a chronological list - so here is my green card processing timeline.

IMPORTANT: Be aware that not everyone’s application follows quite the same pattern as my own.  I have read various accounts and the time delays can vary considerably, as can the order of events (for example, unlike me, many people receive their temporary work and travel permits before they get their green card).

January 14^th – My wife and I got married.  This fulfilled the requirements of my K1 fiance visa.  To become a permanent resident and obtain the necessary documents for getting work, however, I needed to apply for a green card next.

February 2nd - I received my social security card after applying for it at a social security office 10 days earlier.  Although it is not essential to the process of getting a green card, doing anything official can be difficult in the USA without a social security number, which is used as a form of I.D. proof, as well as for tax purposes.  The card had written across it that I could only work with DHS authorization.

January and February - My wife and I make up a list of everything that we would need as evidence and began gathering it together for my green card application.

February 25^th - Attend a medical and get my I-693 form filled out (confirmation of my vaccine records by a US doctor).

March 14^th - Put in the application for greencard (I-485), along with applications for a temporary work permit (I-765) and travel permit (I-131), all our evidence, a check for the fee, and a green receipt card for the USCIS to stamp and return to me.

March 18^th – Received the green receipt card I sent with package back, stamped by USCIS Chicago.

March 25^th - Received notification that my forms and fee money had been received (including receipts for the temporary work [I-765] and travel [I-131] documents as well as the green card) – but also informed that I’d forgotten to include payment for the biometrics appointment and I needed to send them the money before my case would proceed.

April 3^rd - Received confirmation that they’d received the money for the biometrics and that they would send me a date for my biometrics appointment in due course.

April 17^th - Receive a “Transfer Notice”, informing me that they have transferred my case to the California Service Center to speed up the green card processing.

June 30^th - Invited to attend a biometrics appointment on July 20th.

September 18^th - Receive notification that my green card application has been accepted and they will send me a green card shortly.

September 20^th - Received my green card in the mail.

Now that the green card process was complete and I had my green card, I requested that my social security card be changed to remove the writing on it that stipulated I could only work with DHS authorization.  Received my replacement card on September 26th.

I can take a breather now regarding immigration bureaucracy until my green card runs out in 2 years time and I have to replace it.

K1 Proof of relationship

A number of people have asked me what I used for proof of relationship for the K1 visa application, so I thought that I would post up what I used.  In our case is was similar to the I-129 petition relationship proof that we used, when my wife put in the  I-129 application (although we probably gave the USCIS more than they needed at that stage).

Basically from I learnt, the standard proof of ongoing relationship that they would accept were things like photos of my wife and I together and together with family, postmarked letters and emails that we had exchanged, telephone bills that showed we had spoken over the phone, and flight tickets that showed we had visited one another.  You are allowed to censor out some of the more personal information from letters etc. I believe.

Anyway, the specific evidence that my wife and I used as K1 proof of relationship was:

Photos of us during a visit.  There was a photo of the two of us together, a photo with the two of us with my fiancee’s daughter, and a photo of my fiancé with me and my family.

The plane tickets that were used for the flights across the Atlantic, and also the ferry tickets that we used on a day trip to France together.

Some of the cards that we had sent to each other by mail – birthday and postcards.

Some printouts of emails that we’d sent each other.  Nothing too personal, of course.

Some printouts of MSN messenger and Skype conversations that we’d had together.

A phone bill to show that we had telephoned each other.  (Although that didn’t happen more than a few times as we generally used Skype to communicate, basically because Skype was cheaper and also we could use webcams, which is more personal).

UPDATE

I mailed my proof of ongoing relationship to the London Embassy, which was the correct procedure at the time, but I think someone told me that visa applicants now have to take their proof in by hand when they attend their K1 Fiance Visa interview.  The rules and guidelines can change at any time, so always double-check with the USCIS website to make sure that you are doing the right thing beforehand.

My K1 Fiance Visa Timeline

As I have had quite a bit of interest shown in my post on the fiance visa processing and wait time, I thought that it might be useful to post a simple breakdown of my significant dates in the process and put together a K1 Fiance Visa timeline.  It is not surprising that people get concerned about wait times and start wondering how long each stage of the process is supposed to take - applicants don’t get a great deal of information from the USCIS, in my experience, and it can sometimes feel like you have been forgotten, or your application has got lost in the system.

Once again, I think it wise to remind people that this is my own person experience of the K1 Fiance Visa process.  As far as I am aware, my experience is fairly typical, but other people’s experience might be different.  Processing times can vary according to factors such as how many other people happen to be applying at the same time as you, or if the USCIS are being more particular because they are responding to security concerns, or whatever.

The K1 Fiance Visa Timeline begins with the I-129 petition, which is submitted by the US citizen and ends with non-US citizen being issued with a K1 Fiance Visa.  The bureaucracy doesn’t end there, however, as you still have to move to the USA, get married, then begin the I-485 Green Card application process in order to work and live in the USA indefinitely – this process is easier than the visa, but still a pain.  (I will post a Green Card Timeline on here too, when I’ve got time).

Anyway, here is my K1 Fiance Visa Timeline:

March 2^nd.  I-129 Petition submitted by my fiancée (the US citizen) along with the I-129 Petition relationship proof.

March 13^th.  My fiancée receives a letter of receipt saying that the I-129 petition has been received.

July 2nd.  My fiancée receives notification that I-129 petition has been approved and will be sent to the National Visa Center (NVC).

July 10^th.  My fiancée receives a letter stating that the NVC has received the approved I-129 petition and will be sending the information to the London Embassy within a week.

July 19th.  I receive a letter from US embassy informing me to submit the K1 Fiance Visa forms.

August 11th.  I sent off my K1 Fiance Visa application forms to the London Embassy along with my proof, including things like my UK Police Certificate, passport-style photos etc.

September 14^th.   I receive a letter sent to me inviting me to arrange a K1 fiance visa medical exam and giving me my K1Fiance Visa interview date.

September 30^th.  Attend K1 Fiance Visa medical exam in London

October 13^th.  Attend K1 Fiance Visa interview in London.

October 21^st.  K1 Fiance Visa delivered to my workplace, where I signed for it.

USCIS Green Card Approval

I should point out at the start of this post that, as usual, this is an account of my own personal experience, it is not an official guide.  Your experience of getting USCIS green card approval may well be different to mine.  My account does, however, give you a general idea of the sort of things that can happen and where possible, I mention other possibilities that I have read about in my research, which didn’t happen to me personally.

As I mentioned in my post on the biometrics appointment, I didn’t received temporary work and travel permits, despite applying for them – instead I was “fast-tracked” straight to getting my USCIS green card.  “Fast-tracked” is a relative concept in this case, however, as it still took months before my green card was processed.

(Getting the temporary work and travel permits normally isn’t much of an advantage, anyway, as they usually take almost as long to process as the green card for most people in my situation, according to the research that I had done.  So I didn’t feel that I had missed out on anything by not getting them.)

One good thing, however, was that I went straight to the approval letter stage and I didn’t have to attend a USCIS green card interview.  From what I know, the green card interview is no more difficult than the K1 visa interview, but I would still have had the hassle of having to ask my wife to take time off work and drive us up to the USCIS office in a neighbouring city, as we had to do with the biometrics appointment.

Anyway, as I said, I got my green card approval letter, which welcomed me to the USA and explained that I would be receiving my USCIS green card within three weeks (as it happened, the card actually arrived just three days later).  My green card is only valid for two years, however, and I will need to apply for a permanent replacement before it runs out.  (Obtaining the replacement is a relatively cheap and easy process, I believe).

Once I had my green card, I went to my local social security office and applied for a replacement social security card.  This was because my original card was stamped: “VALID FOR WORK ONLY WITH DHS AUTHORIZATION”.  Now that I had a green card, I was able to swap it for a regular social security card without the stamp on it, free of charge.

The USCIS Biometrics Appointment

Four months after I sent off my I-485Green Card Application, as well as my applications for temporary travel and work permits, known as the I-131 Advance Parole (AP) and the I-765 Employment Authorization (EAD), I received a letter inviting me to attend a USCIS biometrics appointment. 

It was good news, as it meant that I was getting closer to obtaining my green card, but also a bit of a pain as it meant my wife taking time off work to drive me to the nearest USCIS office, which was an hour and a half away. There was a stark warning on the USCIS biometrics appointment letter warning me that my application would be considered abandoned if I missed the appointment, so we set off an hour and a half early, giving us plenty of time to find the USCIS center and also some leeway in case there were any unforeseen travel problems.

The biometrics appointment is pretty straightforward and essentially just about getting your photo, fingerprints, iris scans, etc. taken.  In my experience, it is essentially the same information as was collected from me at customs when I entered the US for visits (except this time I had paid the USCIS for the privilege).

We got to the USCIS office without problems.  After coming through security at the door, I was given a form to fill out and told to wait.  There were lots of people booked for the same time, so they gave people waiting numbers according to a first-come-first-served basis.  Like with the London Embassy, there were security restrictions on electronic devices, so my wife and I left our ipods etc in the car and took in some books to read.

I was only kept waiting for ten minutes, however, and then sent through to a backroom where a lady collected my biometrics.  One worrying thing that she pointed out, that I hadn’t realized, was that my USCIS biometrics appointment was only for my green card.  Normally, she told me, she processed two lots of biometrics for people in my situation, one for the green card application and one for the temporary travel and work permits.  She asked me if I had received any other letters and I told her no.  She explained that it was therefore possible that I might be invited to go for a second biometrics appointment at some point in the future. 

I was less than happy at the prospect of my wife having to take another day off work and both of us traveling to the USCIS office again.  Plus it could cause a delay in the process.  I tried to get some advice and information off the biometrics lady, regarding what I should I do, but she said that she was unable to tell me anything more  and I should just wait to be contacted by the USCIS (to be fair, I think she just had the task of collecting the biometrics and had no access to my files, or knowledge of my case).

Despite my wife having taken an entire day of work, the actual biometrics appointment only took about 25 minutes.  I was still thinking about what the biometrics lady had said when I got home.  Then I remembered that I had received another letter from the USCIS a couple of months earlier, telling me that they were transferring my green card application to California to speed it up (I live in Florida).  Taking into account what the lady at the biometrics had said, my guess was that the USCIS were maybe skipping the temporary work and travel applications and just focusing on sorting out my I-485 green card.  My guess would later turn out to be correct.

(I wasn’t too disappointed with this situation. Although my research had recommended putting in the I-131 Advance Parole (AP) and the I-765 Employment Authorization (EAD) applications in with the I-485 Green Card Application, basically because they are free to apply for if submitted this way, my research also suggested that the temporary work and travel permits usually take almost as long to process as the actual Green Card, so were of very limited practical value to me anyway.)

Fiance visa or marriage visa?

Once you and your partner have made the decision that you would like to cement your relationship and live in the US together, you have to decide which visa that you are going to apply for.  There are so many visas that it can seem like a daunting prospect.  

I thought that I would look at the options that were on offer from the USCIS for my wife and I, including whether to apply for a US immigrant visa or a non-immigrant visa, and also whether to go for a fiance visa or a marriage visa?  I will then explain how we came to our decision, in the hope that it might help other couples.

US Immigrant visa or US Non-immigrant visa?

The first thing that my wife and I found out was that US visas are split into two main groups: immigrant visas and non-immigrant visas.  Immigrant visas are for people who want to live in the US indefinitely, whereas non-immigrant visas are for people who want to live in the US temporarily for a specific purpose such as studying, or working for an employer.  

US immigrant visas are usually more expensive and time-consuming to obtain, as far as I am aware, but once you have gone through the process, you can usually become a lawful permanent resident, get your green card, and live and work in the US indefinitely, provided you keep to some basic conditions.

Although a non-immigrant visa is generally cheaper and quicker to get, there are problems if you wish to live in the US with your American fiancee, or fiance indefinitely, as a non-immigrant visa will almost certainly be temporary and you will also most likely be tied to a specific job, or study course.  Although they can often be renewed in some circumstances, it’s bound to be problematic in the long run. 

 

Fiance visa or marriage visa?

My wife and I decided that if we were to be together longterm, then we would have to get married.  This wasn’t a problem for us as we were already committed to being in a lifelong relationship.  The only question was whether we got married first and then I moved to the USA using a marriage visa, or whether I went to the USA with a fiance visa and got married there.    

We discovered that the main practical difference between the two types of visa was that with a K1 fiance visa, I had to move to the US with the undertaking that I would marry my fiancee within 90 days, whereas with the marriage visa, my fiancee and I would have to get married first and then apply for the visa.

The K1 Fiance Visa, which is what we eventually went for, is technically only a non-immigrant visa, but in practice it allowed me to enter the US and get married (we had to get married within 90 days of me entering the USA) and then, once I was married, I was able to apply for a Green Card in order to achieve LPR (Lawful Permanent Residency).  LPR means that you can live and work in the USA indefinitely, provided that you don’t breach certain basic rules.

The reason for our decision to go for a K1 Fiance Visa was that the research we did at the time suggested that the K1 Fiance Visa would work out to be both cheaper and quicker to get than a marriage visa.  The advantage of getting married first and then applying for a marriage visa, which we did not choose, is that I would have got a green card as soon as I arrived in the US, whereas with the fiance visa, I had to go through the I-485 Green Card Application process once I arrived.  

It is important to note, however, that you won't get a fiance visa without meeting the K1 Fiance Visa requirements.

Meeting the K1 Fiance Visa Requirements

Every US immigrant who wants a visa has to meet the specific visa requirements set by the US authorities.  In the case of my wife and I, it was the K1 Fiance Visa requirements that were the relevant ones.  We had to be sure that we met those requirements before we began the process that would eventually allow us to get married and live in the USA together.

Although getting a K1 Fiance visa is more expensive and takes longer than just getting a temporary visa for work or study, you can work and live in the USA more or less indefinitely once you have used your K1 Fiance Visa to enter the USA, got married and have gone through the I-485 green card application procedure.

There were four main K1 Fiance Visa requirements that my wife and I had to meet:

• Firstly, we had to show that we were legally eligible to wed under the laws of the US and my home country, the UK.  This was pretty straightforward for us as neither my fiancee nor I had been married before, so there were no messy ongoing divorces that could potentially get in our way, or anything like that.  (We were both well over the minimum age for marriage as well, I might add!)
  
• Secondly, we had to agree to get married within 90 days of me arriving in the US.  This also was no problem for us.  We were already engaged by that point and had decided upon a very small wedding ceremony, as the thought of trying to organize a big wedding would have been too daunting, distracting and, frankly, expensive for us.  We therefore opted for a simple civil ceremony attended by just a handful of friends.  Done this way, getting married in the US is pretty inexpensive and straightforward, I found, although the rules, costs and legalities do vary from state to state.  We were married in Florida and found the process quick and easy and not at all a strain on our wallets.
  
• The third of the K1 Fiance Visa requirements that I was required to meet was that I would use the K1 Fiance Visa to enter the USA with the sole intention of marrying my fiancee.  I am not a visa lawyer or a US immigration attorney, but I would guess that this clause is meant to help stop people misusing the K1 Fiance Visa.
  
• The fourth and final of the K1 Fiance Visa requirements was that my wife and I had met up during the two years before we filed for the K1 fiance visa.  We fulfilled this requirement and could prove that we had met up more than once over the time period mentioned with flight tickets, photographs, etc.  (I believe that this condition can be waived under certain circumstances, such as if your country or religion has customs that forbid a couple meeting up before marriage, or when the requirement might cause extreme hardship for the US citizen - but you would really have to check this up with the USCIS.)

Getting visa photos that fit the US visa photo requirements

One problem that you will probably come across quite quickly when you begin the process of applying for a K1 Fiance Visa is obtaining visa photos that fit the US visa photo requirements.  This was certainly the case for me, being British, as the US visa photo size and shape is completely different to the official photos that are used in Britain for official documents such as passports, driving licenses, etc.  This means that getting a photo for US visa from an automatic photo booth is not an option as the photos produced will not meet the visa photo specifications required for the USCIS documents.

You therefore have two options.  Either you pay someone to take and edit the photos for you so that they fit all the US visa photo specifications, or you do the photos yourself.  I chose the latter option, to do the photos myself, but whichever option you go for, I would strongly recommend that you make sure that have the finished photo(s) in a digital format – this means that you can use them again and again.  

You can also have extra back up copies on hand easily, if they are in digital format, because you can save them online, on a laptop, email them to yourself, and/or put them on a memory stick, as well as having your photos printed out in paper formats.  Even after I arrived in the US, I still needed photos for things such as the green card application and other official documents.

As I said, I chose to do the photo myself.  It is not that difficult, provided you follow all the instructions and make sure that you meet all the US visa photo requirements.  I will confess that I do have an advantage over many people in that I enjoy digital photography and have experience of basic photo editing, but the process really is not really too taxing.  I will take you through what I did.

First of all, visited the USCIS website and made sure that I had all the up to date information about the visa photo requirements.  Then I made sure that I had arranged the physical space so that the photo for visa would meet the requirements – for example, in the instructions I was given, it said that the background had to be white, or off white, and well lit, so that shadows were minimized (the best way to tackle shadows is to have two sources of light, one on either side of the person who’s picture is being taken).  It is worth spending time setting up the area where your photo will be taken, as you don’t want to end up having to do it all again.  It is also best to read through all the rules in advance for similar reasons.  As well as being a pain, having your photo rejected may slow the whole K1 Fiance visa process.

I got a friend to take the visa photos.  Again, there were rules for how I had to sit and comport myself, although most of them were fairly obvious.  My friend took half a dozen photos and I picked the best photo for US visa from them.

The photo had to fit the visa photo size requirements, which meant for me that I had to crop it to make it into a 2 inch by 2 inch square (51mm by 51mm).  I used Adobe Photoshop to do it, but there are plenty of free cropping tools available online nowadays, including online cropping tools at US Consular websites.  I think you can also scan an existing photo, or submit your photo in a digital format nowadays, but you would have to check up on the rules regarding that, as I don’t know for sure.  I printed my photos out on photo paper, cut them out, and submitted them in paper form.

I-485 Green Card Application and I-684 Affidavit of Support

Unfortunately, the bureaucracy didn’t stop for me once I had entered the US with my K1 Fiance Visa and got married.  The K1 Fiance Visa can only be used once, so having entered the USA and got married, its use was essentially over, although I did, of course, keep all my documents in case they were needed for proof further down the line (the I-94 inside my passport, for instance, was essential later for proving that I had entered the country legally, as was the I-797 approval notice that was received by my wife at the end of the I-129 petition process).  Anyway, I was now ready for the next stage after getting married in the US (Florida), making my I-485 Green Card application for permanent residency, known as an adjustment of status or AOS.  If that was successful, then I would receive a USCIS Green Card and be classified as a resident alien by the USCIS.  Along with the I-485 Green Card application, I also applied for Advance Parole (AP) and Employment Authorization (EAD), as there was no fee to pay if I filed them at the same time as my application for adjustment of status (AOS).

The I-485 Green Card application is a thick form with lots of questions, but I had got used to filling out those when undergoing the K1 Fiance Visa Process.  What was a pain about applying for Adjustment of Status, in my wife and I’s experience, was putting together all the masses of evidence that was needed to go with the accompanying I-684 Affidavit of Support.  As well as providing proof that we were are married, my wife also had to present proof that she was financially solvent and able to support me.  This basically involves collecting together piles of tax returns that have to be sorted through and copied, as well as letters from my wife’s boss and months and months of bank statements, amongst other things.  I also had to include the I-693 vaccination supplement, a copy of my I-94, the I-684 Affidavit of Support, along with copies of all the bank, employment, and tax documents.  We also included evidence of our relationship, including: copy of marriage license, wedding cards and photos, letter from bank showing we had a joint bank account and a few other things, such as the I-797. 

As I mentioned, as well as the green card application, I also put in applications for temporary travel documents and temporary employment permission, known as I-131 Advance Parole (AP) and the I-765 Employment Authorization (EAD), so that I have the option of traveling and working while we wait for the adjustment of status application to be processed, although in practice the AP and EAD can also take months to be processed.  I thought it was worth putting them in, however, as there were no extra costs, given that they were filed with my I-485 and I-684.

The whole package of five application forms and status adjustment evidence was so big and heavy it cost us $14 for the postage!  (That was on top of the $980 we had to pay for the processing of the application!)  There is also a small fee at this point that you have to pay towards the biometrics that you will have to get later.  We actually forgot to include this the first time round and were sent a letter saying that they wouldn’t start processing our forms until they had received it.  They also send letters acknowledging receipt of the various forms.

The next stage after this is the biometrics appointment.  They send a letter inviting you when they are ready.  It took over four months for me just to get the I-131 Advance Parole (AP) and the I-765 Employment Authorization (EAD), never mind the Adjustment of Status, so try to keep patient!

USCIS I-693 form and Vaccination Supplement

After getting married in the USA (Florida), I now had to file an I-485 Green Card application for permanent residency.  This is also called seeking an adjustment of status (AOS).  If all went well with that, then I would be issued with a USCIS Green Card.  Before I could do that, however, I needed to get certification to show that all my vaccinations and health checks etc. were in order.  This was to be done with a USCIS I-693 form, I discovered, which I had to get filled out and then include when I sent in the I-485 Green Card application package. 

As I had had a K1 Fiance Visa Medical Exam back in London only a few months prior and had brought my copy of the vaccinations sheet with me to the USA, that made things a little easier when sorting out the USCIS I-693 form.  Essentially, because I had had my K1Fiance Visa Medical Exam within 12 months previous to putting in my I-485 Green Card application, I didn’t need to undergo another medical (phew!) and I only needed the USCIS i-693 supplemental form filling out, not the entire I-693 form.

The I-693 supplemental form relates only to the vaccination supplement part of the form and has to be filled out by a designated civil surgeon, which basically means a USCIS approved doctor.  There is a list of practices on the USCIS website that I used to help me find a designated civil surgeon.  Apparently, prices vary considerably, so you are supposed to shop around.  In my small city, however, there were only two practices with a designated civil surgeon and one of them never answered my calls, so I didn’t have a great deal of choice.  The price wasn’t bad, however.  I forget what the fee was but it was somewhere in the region of $35.  I had to keep telling them that I only needed the I-693 supplemental form doing, however, and did not require the entire medical (which would have cost considerably more and was completely unnecessary in my case).

Anyway, I booked an appointment and it was all very straightforward.  As it had already been determined that I met the US vaccination requirements for the medical exam back in London, I just took along my passport as ID and my copy of the vaccine worksheet that I had been given to me after my London medical and they copied my details from the vaccine worksheet over onto the USCIS I-693 supplement.   I didn’t need any extra vaccinations.  The I-693 supplement was then stamped and signed by the designated civil surgeon and I was given a sealed envelope that I was told under no circumstances should I open. 

Now that I had sorted out my USCIS i-693 supplemental form, I was ready to put together my I-485 Green Card application package.