Honduras - what are the rules there?

[CARMENCARDIO]

if my husband came here 4 years ago and we are now trying to fix his paper work. can he remain her while the paper work is getting fixed? does he have to go to honduras?? what if we hired an attorney?? please help this is so scarey!! we really dont have a clue where to start, what to do??!!
thanks!!

[joy&pain]

how did your husband enter? on a valid visa or ewi (entered without inspection)? if ewi, how many times?

[Laura]

It's very important how he entered the country. If he EWI (entered without inspection), he probably needs to return to Honduras and go through what is called the foreign-filed waiver process, which will include at least some time spent in Honduras waiting for an approval.

If he came on a visa you will be able to do an adjustment of status (much easier!)..

Read through the guide that is linked in my signature - it should give you a general idea if he will need a waiver.

[wanaads]

Hi Carmen,

If your husband entered without a proper visa, he will almost certainly have to return to Honduras for a period of time. Let me try to give you a rundown of the process:

1. File I-130 form, available on the USCIS website. This will take several months to get approved. Mine took about six, others have been longer, others have been less.

2. Once the I-130 is approved, you're case will be transferred to the National Visa Center (NVC) and you will start to receive several different forms to complete:

A. Choice of Agent - Your husband designates you or someone else in the US to receive paperwork regarding his case;

B. Fee bill for the Affadavit of Support - see how much I paid in my signature below;

C. Affadavit of Support - You will have to provide evidence (tax returns, W-2s) that you make 250% above the poverty line in order to sponsor your husband or you will need someone else to co-sponsor with you;

D. Fee bill for DS-230 (Visa application) - I think this is $380. See what I paid below;

E. DS-230 - you will need to collect various documents: your marriage license, your husband's birth certificate, police and court records in Honduras, etc. These will also need to be translated.

3. Once your file with NVC is complete, they will forward your case to the consulate in Honduras and your husband will be scheduled for an appointment. It is at this time that he will have to return to Honduras in order to attend the appointment in Tegucigalpa. They will deny him a visa because of his unlawful presence and then....

4. You will have to file an I-601 Waiver of Inadmissability along with a hardship letter (HSL) in which you need explain hardships to YOU, the US citizen, if your husband is not given a visa. Examples of approved HSLs can be found on this site. The most important part about this is that you need to provide good evidence for every hardship claim you make. You can just say "I'll be really depressed and broken-hearted." It needs to be very substantive.

5. Once you turn in your I-601 and HSL to the consulate, your husband will have to stay in Honduras and wait for a decision. The embassy's website says it's taking them 6-8 months to make decisions on the waivers. Catrachowife, who turned in hers in mid-June, I believe, is still waiting on a decision. The consulate recently told her that they are currently working on cases from June so she's going to be right at seven months soon with no word.

6. If you're approved, fantastic!! Your husband picks up his visa and gets to come back. If you are denied, you can appeal or re-file.

I've glossed over a lot of details, but this is the basic process. Have a look through our Honduras thread for more info on what we know about how it works there - which is not much, frankly. But with several of us at various stages of the process we should start to get more of a feel for what the deal is down there in the coming months.

Hope this helps - best of luck to you!!

[wanaads]

Or you can just read the guide in Laura's link. :o

[CARMENCARDIO]

Okay, thanks so much!!
where can i find out the poverty line/limit is?
after they deny him the i-601 form should be filled out now or when hes in honduras and they deny him??
do you see alot of people getting denied??

[CARMENCARDIO]

he came just one time this only time. without a valid passport. through the rio

[wanaads]

Here's a link to the 2007 guidelines:

http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/I-864P.pdf

In order to keep things moving along, many people try to file the I-601 at the time of the appointment in Tegucigalpa. You can't do it before the denial so it's nice to send your husband in with the full packet and have him turn it in that day. Also, it costs like $560 or something.

Also, also, if he doesn't already have one, he's going to need to get a passport from the Honduran consulate here in the US.

[wanaads]

Made a mistake on the poverty guidelines - it's 125% NOT 250%. Sorry!