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I-485 ONLINE FILING GUIDE FOR FAMILY-BASED ADJUSTMENT OF STATUS APPLICANTS — Transcript

by Kseniya International · 3,115 words · 472 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00The days of bulky green card packets are
0:03over. You can now complete your family
0:05green card process entirely online. Hi
0:08guys, welcome or welcome back to my
0:10channel. My name is Ksenia. I make
0:11videos for people who are going through
0:13the family green card process. I'm not
0:15an attorney. My videos are based on
0:16public information, my own experience,
0:18and the experience of my subscribers.
0:20And the purpose of my channel is to give
0:22you all the confidence to go through
0:23this process completely on your own. So,
0:26today I wanted to share some very
0:28exciting news with you all. If you have
0:31been researching into this process for
0:32quite some time, you might be familiar
0:34with the fact that the form I-130, the
0:37initial petition, has been available
0:39online for quite a few years now. Some
0:42other applications then became available
0:45for online filing, such as the form
0:47I-131, the advanced parole application,
0:50and the form I-765, employment
0:53authorization document. But, until only
0:55a couple of days ago, the form I-485 for
0:59family-based applicants has not been
1:01available online. This application has
1:03been available for online filing for
1:05employment-based applicants, but in the
1:07past couple of days, this option finally
1:10became available for family-based
1:13applicants. I tested it out. It does
1:15work. And so, in today's video, I'm
1:17going to show you how to do it all. The
1:20paper filing option is still available
1:23for you if that is what you choose to
1:25do. The list of forms for family-based
1:27adjustment of status has not really
1:30changed since this video that I made.
1:32USCIS does give a filing discount when
1:35it comes to online filing. So, if you
1:38were to file all of your applications by
1:41mail, the total amount you would have to
1:43pay in just filing fees alone would be
1:46$3,005.
1:49Plus, remember that you would also have
1:51the medical exam expenses and additional
1:54mailing expenses, prep expenses such as
1:57printing all of your applications, all
1:59of your evidence. And if you are now to
2:02file all of these applications online,
2:04the total amount of money that you would
2:07spend in fees would be $2,855.
2:12And one more thing before we jump in.
2:14So, essentially, this online process is
2:17the PDF intake process. So, unlike the
2:21I-130 application where you fill in the
2:24form fields in the online application,
2:27this process is a little bit different.
2:30You first still have to fill out these
2:32applications using Adobe Acrobat Reader
2:35on your computer, save them in a PDF,
2:37and then upload them to this online
2:41application. You don't actually have to
2:43physically sign the forms. I will show
2:45you how the signature portion is handled
2:48during this video. One of the things you
2:50want to first do is file the form I-130
2:55from your petitioner's online account.
2:58Make sure that you're not completing
3:02this online application process for the
3:05green card form and the additional forms
3:08on the petitioner's account. And do keep
3:10in mind that if you are in a situation
3:12where you also have derivatives, they
3:15also each need to have their own online
3:17USCIS account and submit their own
3:21applications from their own account.
3:23Okay, so let's get started. First, you
3:25need to log into your online USCIS
3:27account. Click on the drop-down or on
3:30the main menu, file a form online. Next,
3:34select the form from the drop-down that
3:37you see. So, we're going to select
3:39I-485.
3:41Next, select which one of these forms
3:44you're filing together with your green
3:46card application. So, in this online
3:49submission, I do not recommend that you
3:52select the form I-131
3:55for one reason, and that is during the
3:58PDF intake of your online application
4:00I-131 for advanced parole, you will be
4:03asked that in your actual application,
4:06you provide the receipt number of your
4:09pending form I-485.
4:12And of course, we're not going to have
4:14it available because we are in the
4:16process of filing the form I-485. So,
4:19unless USCIS actually fixes this issue,
4:22you are not going to be able to
4:24concurrently submit the form I-131.
4:27However, you will be able to do that for
4:30the form I-765.
4:33Now, the forms I-485A
4:36and I-485J
4:38are supplemental forms. They're not
4:40required for all family-based
4:43applicants. Now, the supplement A is
4:45only applicable to a small number of
4:48people. You read the eligibility for the
4:51supplement A. So, in majority of cases,
4:54you would not have to complete the
4:56supplement A. Same applies to supplement
4:59J. That is also for employment-based
5:01applicants. Click next.
5:04And then it will guide you through some
5:06notes that you need to consider before
5:09you begin applying. It talks about
5:12biometrics, evidence that you would have
5:14to pay the fee at the end of it, etc.,
5:17etc. So, you can read this at your own
5:18time. The form saves automatically, so
5:20you can come back to it at any time. You
5:23don't have to complete all of this in
5:25one sitting. If you do not touch your
5:27application for 30 days, then it will be
5:30expired and deleted from the USCIS
5:32system, but if you continue to log in,
5:36to add information, to upload evidence,
5:38then the 30-day timer will reset every
5:42single time. Click through all of the
5:43next and start, it will take you to the
5:46beginning of the application. Firstly,
5:49check if you are a principal or a
5:52derivative applicant. Just to summarize,
5:55anyone who had a petition filed for them
5:57individually is considered a principal
6:00applicant. And then, a derivative
6:02applicant is anyone who fell under their
6:05spouse's or their parents' petition. And
6:08then, select whether you're filing
6:10family-based. And then, select the
6:13eligibility which you fall under. You
6:16want to make sure that the eligibility
6:18category that is selected in the PDF of
6:20your I-485 matches to the eligibility
6:24you are selecting here. By the way, if
6:27you are a derivative applicant, just
6:30like in the actual form I-485,
6:33select the eligibility category of the
6:35principal applicant in your case. Scroll
6:39down. Now, select whether you are
6:40applying as part of a six and six
6:42program. This is a special armed forces
6:45service eligibility. You can also read
6:47about it in the policy manual, which I
6:50will link below, but does not apply to
6:53family-based applicants. So, you can
6:56click no. And for the form I-765,
7:01you're going to select from the
7:02drop-down C9 category. Again, that is
7:06the category that you will indicate in
7:08your actual application. Next, select
7:11whether this is initial, renewal, or
7:13replacement. Even if you had employment
7:16authorization in the past under a
7:18different category, if this is your
7:20first time applying under this category,
7:24then you will always select initial. And
7:27then, answer whether you have filed your
7:30I-485 with a fee on or after April 1st,
7:332024. Again, this is standard wording.
7:36Of course, we're filing our I-485
7:39application after April 1st, 2024. The
7:42reason why they're asking about this is
7:45because people who applied for
7:47adjustment of status before this date
7:50used to not have to pay the application
7:53fee for the employment authorization,
7:55but after that, they would have to pay.
7:58Next, answer whether or not you're able
8:01to pay the filing fee. Now, in
8:03family-based cases, the fee exemption
8:06form I-912 is only applicable to the
8:09form I-765,
8:12but for the form I-485 for family-based
8:15applicants, you must be able to pay the
8:18application fee. You also have a sponsor
8:22who is promising to sponsor your stay
8:25here. And not being able to pay the
8:27application fee could be a significant
8:29red flag to USCIS. Click next. Now, this
8:33is where you're going to upload the PDF
8:36of your form I-485.
8:40Select your filled-out form from your
8:42computer, and the artificial
8:44intelligence will validate your form for
8:47completeness and make sure that it
8:49matches all of the information to the
8:52database. If you filed the form I-130 by
8:55mail, then you would want to make sure
8:58that you receive receipt notice so that
9:01you know it's in the USCIS system, so
9:03then you can proceed with the I-485
9:05application online. I uploaded an
9:09unsigned form. So, let me show you what
9:11happens if your application is not
9:13completed fully or if there are errors
9:15in your form. The online system will
9:18give you an entire list of errors that
9:21are associated with your application.
9:24So, if all goes well with your
9:25application, the status of your form
9:27should say complete. Next, upload the
9:30concurrent PDF I-765. For I-765, same as
9:35for I-485,
9:37you don't actually have to sign this
9:39form in pen. Once you upload all of the
9:43forms, you will be taken to the evidence
9:45portion of this online filing. So,
9:47first, you're going to need to upload
9:50passport-style photos of the applicant,
9:53the person who is applying for the green
9:55card in this application. You can get
9:58your passport style photos done at a
10:00CVS, at a Walgreens, a Walmart, at the
10:03USPS, but you can also take them
10:06yourself on your smartphone. You do have
10:09to strictly follow the guidelines on the
10:11Department of State's website, which I
10:13will also link in the description box of
10:15this video. And also a lot of the places
10:17where you take the passport style
10:19photos, you can ask them for a digital
10:22copy of your photographs. However, that
10:25is going to be an additional upcharge,
10:27and usually it turns out to be quite
10:29expensive. By the way, when it comes to
10:31uploading evidence online, you want to
10:33make sure that all of the documents that
10:35you are uploading have a clear name. So,
10:38it's not just a collection of random
10:41letters and numbers. If you would like
10:43to, you can upload one document with two
10:45photos in it, or you can upload the same
10:48photo twice. Next, you need to upload a
10:51government-issued identity document with
10:53your photograph. So, for most adjustment
10:56of status applicants, this would be a
10:58biographical page of your passport. You
11:00will need to upload your birth
11:02certificate. And here, they do guide you
11:06to the Department of State website. Find
11:09your country, scroll down under each of
11:13these categories, you will see what each
11:17of these civil documents is supposed to
11:18look like, what is the issuing
11:20authority, what are some special seals
11:22or signatures that need to exist on this
11:24document. If your birth certificate is
11:26in a foreign language, it is very
11:28important that you get it translated,
11:30and also have the translation in the
11:33same PDF as the copy of your original
11:36birth certificate. It will not let you
11:38upload more than one file in this
11:40section. A big mistake that some
11:42applicants make is that they only send a
11:45copy of their original birth
11:47certificate, or just the translation.
11:50You must send both. Next, you need to
11:53provide evidence of your inspection and
11:55admission. So, for most applicants in
11:59this case, this would be the passport
12:02page with your non-immigrant visa, or
12:05your I-94. So, select it here. But, if
12:09you upload your visa page, for example,
12:11then you can select passport or travel
12:12document. By the way, if you're
12:14struggling to locate your I-94 online,
12:17check out this video I made where I
12:20offer solutions to this problem. Click
12:22next. Now, you're going to need to
12:25upload the documentation of your
12:27immigrant category.
12:29So, in here, this is where you will need
12:31to upload the receipt copy of the I-130
12:36receipt. The online application will
12:39validate it to make sure that the
12:41receipt number matches, that the name of
12:43the petitioner and the beneficiary
12:45match. Next, you're going to submit
12:48evidence of continuously maintaining
12:50your lawful status since last arrival in
12:52the US. Now, if you honestly don't have
12:56this, so if you are in a period of
12:58overstay, you cannot obviously upload
13:01anything here. After clicking next, you
13:03will get a yellow alert for missing
13:06evidence. So, yellow alerts allow you to
13:08still proceed with the application
13:11without having to submit anything here.
13:14And the red alerts are the ones that
13:16prevent you from completing the process.
13:19But, if you do have documents that show
13:22your continuous presence in the US, you
13:25absolutely should upload them. So, they
13:27do give you here, you can one more time
13:30upload your I-94 document. You can
13:33upload any I-20 forms, DS-2019s.
13:37You will need to show that you have
13:38maintained your presence here. Moving
13:42on. Now, here we are at the medical exam
13:44portion of this application. Please
13:46carefully read the guidelines for the
13:48medical exam submission, because when
13:51you file your Form I-485 electronically,
13:54you're going to open your completed
13:58package from the civil surgeon, but you
14:01still must maintain your original form
14:03that you just opened, and you're going
14:06to have to bring it with you to your
14:08green card interview. You will need to
14:10scan every single page in that package,
14:13the form, the exam results, the any
14:17vaccinations that you have, and upload
14:19it all here. Click next. So, here, if
14:24you have ever had any citations,
14:28arrests, convictions, proceedings in
14:31court, now you will need to upload
14:34certified police and court records of
14:36any criminal arrests, convictions,
14:39anything you had. So, you don't have to
14:43include records of any traffic
14:45violations or anything like that that
14:47were minor in nature, that did not
14:49result in a big fine or penalty over
14:53$500 or points on your driver's license.
14:56But, in the actual form itself, in
14:59question 22, you will still need to
15:02answer yes if you have ever been cited.
15:05Many people misunderstand the question
15:07in this form by thinking that they
15:09shouldn't answer yes to this question if
15:11they had a minor citation, traffic
15:14violation, parking ticket, etc.
15:16Actually, what this is saying is that
15:18you still must answer yes, because
15:20traffic violations are citations. You
15:22must answer yes to this question. A lot
15:25of USCIS officers can potentially get
15:28still get hung up on this issue, and may
15:30still delay your case if you don't
15:33provide this evidence ahead of time. So,
15:35no matter how minor the violation is, it
15:38is still in your best interest to avoid
15:41any further questioning, or to avoid
15:44delays in your case, requests for
15:46evidence. And of course, if you have
15:48never had any violations, you don't have
15:50any court dispositions, nothing like
15:51that to declare, then you can simply
15:54skip this part. Again, you're given a
15:56yellow alert, you can proceed further
15:58without providing this evidence. Now,
16:00the additional parts of evidence here
16:03are the Form I-508,
16:06566,
16:07612, people in special circumstances.
16:11So, the Form I-508 is for people who
16:14hold an AG or an E visa. Then, in
16:18addition to all of these other forms,
16:20applications, evidences, you're going to
16:23also have to fill out this application,
16:26and also the application I-566.
16:30Now, again, if you are not in any of
16:33these categories, you can simply skip
16:36these parts of the evidence. Same
16:38applies for the people who are
16:41requesting a waiver of foreign residence
16:43requirement. If you are here on a J
16:46visa, and you are subjected to the rule
16:49212E,
16:50you will see that annotation in your
16:53passport. You may have to obtain the
16:55waiver of foreign residence requirement,
16:57or a no objection statement from your
17:01country. If you are a derivative
17:03submitting this application from your
17:05own account, you will need to upload the
17:09principal applicant's form or petition
17:12copy or receipt. Next, you will need to
17:16provide the Form I-864 affidavit of
17:19support, and any additional affidavits
17:23of support if it applies to you. If you
17:27are unsure what supporting documents you
17:29will need to provide, at the end of my
17:31video for I-864, I provide a list of
17:35supporting documents that is required in
17:38each situation. Combine them into one
17:41PDF, which means that it would have to
17:43include the affidavit of support, tax
17:46returns or tax return transcripts, proof
17:48of the sponsor's status, and any
17:51additional documentation you wish to
17:53provide, such as an employment
17:54verification letter, and pay stubs.
17:57Moving on. If there is any additional
17:59evidence that you would like to provide,
18:02that you weren't able to upload, you can
18:05upload it all here. Moving on. It will
18:08request you to submit all of the
18:10required documents for the I-765
18:13supplemental form if you do select it
18:16with your application. So, once again,
18:18upload the passport style photo, I-94
18:21arrival/departure record, the last
18:24employment authorization document that
18:25you had, if you ever had one before. So,
18:29you would need to upload the front and
18:30the back copy of it, and it should be
18:33all in one document, preferably on one
18:36page of this document. Same applies to
18:39this section of the 765 when it asks for
18:43your I-485 application, you obviously
18:46cannot upload it here, so you can also
18:48skip past this. And any additional
18:51evidence that you wish to upload for the
18:52Form I-765, but once again, uh most of
18:55the applicants are not going to have
18:57anything additional. Okay. So, at the
18:59very end, if everything is uploaded and
19:02completed correctly, all of the
19:04documents are validated, you have
19:07uploaded everything that you were
19:08supposed to upload, you will be given a
19:11green alert that says that there are no
19:13issues with your application, and the
19:15final fee that you will have to pay. So,
19:17you will notice here that this final fee
19:19includes the discounted fee for the Form
19:22I-485 online filing, and also the
19:25discounted fee for the 765 online
19:29filing. If you click next, review to
19:31make sure that everything here is all
19:33set, clicks click next, and this is the
19:36portion that will do the online
19:39signature for you. So, this is why you
19:41don't have to actually sign your PDFs
19:44when you upload them, is because your
19:47digital signature in this portion will
19:49be applied to both of the forms that you
19:52have submitted. And then it will direct
19:54you to the pay and submit portion. So,
19:57once you click pay and submit, you will
19:58be redirected to an official government
20:01website where you will pay the filing
20:03fee. Once your payment is processed,
20:05your application will be officially
20:08submitted. So, this is the online
20:10process. Please do comment below about
20:13your personal experience with the online
20:15application. Check out all of the other
20:17videos on my channel, especially the
20:19video guides on how to properly complete
20:21the applications that we discussed in
20:23today's video. Give this video a thumbs
20:26up. Subscribe to my channel if you
20:27haven't already, and I hope to see you
20:29guys in my other videos. Bye.

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