M&M

Hello all...
I've read many posts and AoS experiences, but some specific questions
remain.
My questions concern filing for Adjustment of Status without having all the
necessary paperwork ready.

The details:
My fiancee came to the US with a K-1 visa in January, and we got married in
March. We are now finishing our I-485 AoS paperwork. We have almost all
the supporting documents we need.

We learned from this group and others that my wife doesn't have to get
another medical examination, and doesn't need to file an I-693 Medical
Examination Form, but instead may simply prove she has had the proper
vaccinations and blood tests by showing her records to a Civil Surgeon and
having him complete a Vaccination Supplement.

Our local field office is Philadelphia, and in the instruction packet they
included with the forms, an "I-485 Notice" stated, in part:
"To apply for permanent resident status in the United States, the
Philadelphia District Office recommends that you file your application in
person. *All required forms and documentation must be submitted at the time
of filing.* ... We will not accept those applications that are incomplete
for filing."

The problem:
My wife does not have all her vaccination data yet: her doctor in Germany
has been *very* slow in mailing us copies of the necessary records.
However, she is adamant about not getting any duplicate injections here.

We don't want to wait any longer to file for AoS because the K-1 visa is
going to expire soon. If I understand this process correctly, we should
file the I-485 right away, even if some supporting documents are incomplete,
because we will then be "in the system" and won't have to worry about the
visa expiring. Am I correct?

It seems we have two possible options here:

1. File in person without a completed Vaccination Supplement.
In reading some couples' experiences, I've heard that CIS officials can
occasionally be somewhat flexible. However, Philadelphia's instructions
seem to be saying that they won't accept our application in person if
anything is incomplete. Any couples who filed in Philadelphia, can you
confirm this? We'd prefer to get in the system now, and send along the
Vaccination Supplement as soon as possible after we get it completed. Would
the Philadelphia office allow this?

OR

2. Mail the applications
Then, let the bureaucracy process it and eventually send us a Request for
Evidence. That should give us enough time to get our vaccination documents
in order. In reading the stories of some couples, I've heard it said that
one should avoid a Request for Evidence if at all possible. However, in
this case, instead of being a dreaded delay, it would be a helpful
"time-out".

Sorry for the long message. Point by point, is our understanding of these
details correct? And, would filing an incomplete set of forms in person be
OK?

Thanks for any light you can shine...
Matthew

Bequibar

Well, I filed in person in Philly. I hadn't had a shot in over 10 years
so, 2 days before AOS I just went to an immigration-approved doctor, had
them all in one day, and added my vaccination certificate to my file.

I
wouldn't know if they would've rejected my application had I not brought
the paper, but I have read many people in this forum saying it's not
really necessary.

You might want to ask Pallyn, MarDae, AllisonPA,
Sharon or Rumplestiltskin, all of them going through the Philly office
too, see if any one of them filed AOS without vaccination record.


Another option would be to actually show up to file for AOS and see if
the officer requests the document or not, unless it's a hassle or a long
drive to come to Philly.

Even if I couldn't help, at least let's bump
it up to the front page, maybe some Callowhill people will see it.

Rete

We did not use Philly, however, here in New York City, the vaccination
supplement is usually brought to the interview and not sent with the
original AOS petition if you don't have it at the time of filing. If
you can spare the day from work, why not walk in the application and
find out for yourself what will happen.

A pity that your now wife did
not get a duplicate copy of her vaccination supplement from the USCIS
approved doctor at the time of her medical. If it is not routinely
handed to you at the time of the medical, it is wise to ask the nurse to
be give you a photocopy of the vaccination sheet.

Good luck

Rete




Originally posted by M&M
    > Hello all...
    > I've read
many posts and AoS experiences, but some specific questions
    > remain.
My questions concern filing for Adjustment of Status without having all
the
    > necessary paperwork ready.
    >
    > The details:
    > My fiancee came to
the US with a K-1 visa in January, and we got married in
    > March. We
are now finishing our I-485 AoS paperwork. We have almost all
    > the
supporting documents we need.
    >
    > We learned from this group and others
that my wife doesn't have to get
    > another medical examination, and
doesn't need to file an I-693 Medical
    > Examination Form, but instead
may simply prove she has had the proper
    > vaccinations and blood tests
by showing her records to a Civil Surgeon and
    > having him complete a
Vaccination Supplement.
    >
    > Our local field office is Philadelphia, and
in the instruction packet they
    > included with the forms, an "I-485
Notice" stated, in part:
    > "To apply for permanent resident status in
the United States, the
    > Philadelphia District Office recommends that
you file your application in
    > person. *All required forms and
documentation must be submitted at the time
    > of filing.* ... We will
not accept those applications that are incomplete
    > for filing."
    >
The problem:
    > My wife does not have all her vaccination data yet: her
doctor in Germany
    > has been *very* slow in mailing us copies of the
necessary records.
    > However, she is adamant about not getting any
duplicate injections here.
    >
    > We don't want to wait any longer to file
for AoS because the K-1 visa is
    > going to expire soon. If I understand
this process correctly, we should
    > file the I-485 right away, even if
some supporting documents are incomplete,
    > because we will then be "in
the system" and won't have to worry about the
    > visa expiring. Am I
correct?
    >
    > It seems we have two possible options here:
    >
    > 1. File
in person without a completed Vaccination Supplement.
    > In reading some
couples' experiences, I've heard that CIS officials can
    > occasionally
be somewhat flexible. However, Philadelphia's instructions
    > seem to be
saying that they won't accept our application in person if
    > anything is
incomplete. Any couples who filed in Philadelphia, can you
    > confirm
this? We'd prefer to get in the system now, and send along the
Vaccination Supplement as soon as possible after we get it completed.
Would
    > the Philadelphia office allow this?
    >
    > OR
    >
    > 2. Mail the
applications
    > Then, let the bureaucracy process it and eventually send
us a Request for
    > Evidence. That should give us enough time to get our
vaccination documents
    > in order. In reading the stories of some
couples, I've heard it said that
    > one should avoid a Request for
Evidence if at all possible. However, in
    > this case, instead of being
a dreaded delay, it would be a helpful
    > "time-out".
    >
    > Sorry for the
long message. Point by point, is our understanding of these
    > details
correct? And, would filing an incomplete set of forms in person be
OK?
    >
    > Thanks for any light you can shine...
Matthew

Rete

I note from a previous poster that there are several others from the
Philly area. A damn shame that those AOS filing experiences are not on
the Kamya site so that your question and the questions of others
regarding filing could be easily answered without having to wait for
someone to see your post and respond.


http://www.kamya.com/aos/

Rete


BTW there is one
experience for Philly and that was 01/04 and they don't mention the
vaccination supplement.

MarDae

Hi M&M,
We filed through Philly as Bequibar said. We did have the
vaccination supplement. My husband's mother actually went to the doctor
and picked it up for him and she mailed it to us. We ended up waiting
an extra two weeks from when we originally wanted to file. When we got
to Philly to file they had a list of things that we needed and as far as
I can remember the woman crossed out the vaccination supplement. I
remember being annoyed because we had waited so long to get it. I do
feel better knowing we had it just in case but I think we still would
have been able to file without it.

I think that if it's not too much
trouble to get to Philly that you should try filing without it. At
least you'll have made the effort and won't question yourself later on
whether you should have waited or not. If you get there early and stand
in line you can be seen early and get out relatively quickly. We were
first and then second in line the two times we went. Now that the
weather is picking up I'm guessing that people will start arriving
earlier(we arrived about 6:50am). Even though we had a two hour drive
to get back to Harrisburg, we were home before noon both times and I
actually went in for a half day of work the one time.

I do recommend
filing in person because there were things that Philly asked for that I
couldn't find on any of the forms. We were able to get them really
quickly, and ADIT picture of me (there are vans outside the building
that take the pictures) and a photocopy of part of Anthony's passport.


Sorry if I couldn't give you a definitive yay or nay on the vacc supp
but I do think if it's not too out of the way that it's definitely worth
the try.

Best of Luck,

MarDae :)

Bequibar

Besides Rete's advice above, I just found one of Pallyn's posts about me
not needing the vaccination supplement to file for AOS ]http://brit-
ishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=186048[/url] on page 2.
I
think you can safely just go for it.

AlisonPA

I had a medical before I filed my AOS papers (as I never had a medical
before as I was not on a K1 visa) but only needed a Tetanus jab. I
think I am a little older than the rest of you and because I was born in
1956 in the UK there was no other vaccination needed. If I had been
born after 1956 I would have needed MMR, etc. Also, I told the doctor
that when I was at school and we had TB jabs I had reacted to the test
and had to have a vaccination. He said that I should never have the
test again as I could react very badly and be really ill - something I
never knew before.

M&M

Thanks to bequibar, Rete, MarDae and AlisonPA for your answers and guidance.
We are going to Philadelphia on Wednesday to file our AoS and related forms,
but based on your advice, we'll hold back the Vaccination Supplement.

Now begins the double- and triple-checking...

Matthew

Bequibar

Good luck M&M :)

And stay in touch because a bunch of us philly-
applicants are becoming close and would like to get together in a few
months to meet and to exchange tips on the AOS interview.