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First question comes from Bob. “What benefits does the spousal visa have over the fiancé visa?”

Well, actually a spousal visa has quite a few benefits over a fiancé visa. First and foremost, it comes with a lawful permanent resident card, which is the Green Card. What that means is, once the alien beneficiary enters the United States, they’ll receive the Green Card within seven to 10 business days.

Hasan asks “My fiance is jobless. It’s been four months since she had her mom be a joint sponsor. Do you think it’ll work?”

That’s a good question. It comes down to the income of the mother. If the mother’s income is solid then it’s not going to be a problem. So, that’s really what it comes down to.

Next question comes from Denny. “What kinds of things can count as strong ties for a tourist visa?”

A “strong tie” is anything that you can use to prove to the consular officer that you’re going to return to your home country. That could be a house that you own, could be a great job, or maybe you own a business.

Melvin asks: “Is there any benefit to coming into your office rather than doing it online?”

Not really. You’re always welcome to come by one of our offices. We’re happy to greet you if you’re close. I wouldn’t make a special trip if it involves getting on a plane or driving all day though. We’re always happy to have you visit. We do have people come in on a daily basis.

“My husband is in the Dominican Republic. He would like a vaccine waiver. Does RapidVisa assist in that process?”

The short answer is no. The longer answer is, if you use one, you can still do the process with us and we can submit your waiver along with the petition. It’s no problem at all.

Okay. Next question comes from Chabyl. “My fiancé wants to start to file the K1 visa. I’m a Filipino but I’m here in Lebanon, so I will process my papers here in Lebanon. My question, is it easier to process here in Lebanon or in my country in the Philippines?”

The short answer is that you need the long form. You’ll know whether it’s the long form or the short form depending on if it includes both parent’s names and information. But to be sure, you definitely need your birth certificate with both parent’s names on it. Some of those short forms do not include that information.

We have noticed that the USCIS as well as the National Visa Center has started scrutinizing affidavit of support documents that list a petitioner or the sponsor as being self-employed and so what they want to see is now at least 6 months of bank statements. They want to see at least three years of tax returns instead of one year of tax returns.

“The interview and physical, is it hard to pass?” The short answer is no. I went to the interview with my wife and the questions were pretty straightforward. They came right out of the petition itself. The consular officer took the petition, opened it up, flipped through it page by page and took the questions right out of there.

So next question is, should I file my spousal visa at the embassy or the United States? That's a complicated question. The reason being is because there is only 24 international USCIS offices at embassies around the world. So one, that's not very many and two, you must meet the requirements to file in that […]