US Immigration from Ecuador

This is the continuation thread for

https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/759423-vawa-part-22/

which was closed because of its large size.

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The Part 22 thread reached its size in rapid time, thanks in large part to reports of many approvals and happy reactions to them. May those continue in this thread.

Absolutely remember ongoing issues from Part 22, and carry on with them here!

Since today is the regular filing deadline for 2020 taxes, I am starting a thread to share experiences on filing jointly while requesting an ITIN for the foreign spouse.

Our situation: my wife is outside the U.S. waiting for a CR-1 interview. I wanted to file jointly before the deadline, since I could not submit a federal extension without a SSN for her. I also didn't want to file separately (even if amending later) since that would result in owing a lot up front. I used TaxAct for the first time this year and have no complaints. I have used other tax software in the past but tend to go with whatever is available through free filing options, which can change from year to year.

With that in mind, my timeline so far is:

• Late March: submitted a (paper) extension request for my state return, explaining that we are applying for an ITIN with the federal return and could not submit the state return until that was assigned
  • No response received
  • Mid-April: called the state taxpayer hotline and was advised that if I didn't receive a response to the extension request by the May 17 deadline, to submit the return with the spouse's SSN left blank and then wait for them to request the missing information
• Late April: visited my wife abroad and got necessary signatures and documents from her
• May 5: USPS Priority Mail Express envelope received at IRS Austin address containing the following:
  • Nonresident Alien Spouse Election Statement (signed by both of us, prepared based on this IRS guidance)
  • Form W-7 signed by my wife, plus supporting documents:
    • Original state ID (to establish identity) - the details for this were included on part 6d of the form
    • Certified copy of birth certificate (to establish foreign status)
      • Accompanied by an additional information sheet with her name and "Form W-7" at the top, containing all the details requested in part 6d of the form - not sure if this was necessary, but I didn't want to chance it
      • Also accompanied by a translation that I prepared and signed using the typical certification statement found in these forums
    • Certified copy of marriage certificate (since the birth certificate had her maiden name and everything else used her married name)
  • Form 1040 (signed by both of us) and all relevant schedules/forms
  • W-2
• May 15: USPS Priority Mail envelope received at PO Box for state returns, containing:
  • Cover letter explaining the situation
  • State return signed by both of us (SSN for wife left blank per the instructions I had previously received over the phone)
  • W-2
  • Copy of the extension request I had previously submitted (stamped as "file copy")
  • Printout of the "How do I apply for an ITIN?" page from the IRS website, highlighting the part that says how long it's supposed to take

Now all I can do is wait patiently and hope I did everything right. I will update this thread if I have any news.

Anyone who is going through the same process, please feel free to post your own timeline.

It seems like the most common post here right now is people asking when their Embassy/Consulate interview will be scheduled.

Given the enormous interview backlog (right now there are roughly 8 times as many people waiting for immigrant visa interviews as there were on average in 2019), it's not surprising that the question is coming up so often.

To help address this, I suggest creating some sort of sticky post in applicable sub-forums to address some of the frequently asked questions around the scheduling of interviews. That way, as these new threads/posts come up there would be an easy place to direct everyone. That would hopefully cut down on the number of new threads and hijack posts asking the same question, and save everyone's time and energy when trying to answer them.

The sticky post could include:

• A general reminder of how the process works, and that no one can predict how long it will take to get an interview appointment, etc.
• Link/instructions on how to look at relevant visa timelines in the Portal section
• Link to the Case Complete to Interview thread/spreadsheet (for the CR-1/IR-1 forum and anywhere else that something like this exists)
• Link to the new NVC Immigrant Visa Backlog Report
• Link to the relevant Visa Statistics page and some brief notes on how to navigate it

If something like this already exists, please point me to it! Otherwise, if others are on board with this, maybe we can use this thread to brainstorm what other content could go into these posts and draft them together. Thanks.

unfortunately due to slight misunderstanding the petitioner withdrawal affidavit of support without informing his wife and later the denial Notice comes up !Remember they not divorced yet and really a beautiful family have built a lot together.Was done out of anger reactions even after canceling it still the so consulted un- professional lawyer sends it out to the USCiS for her greed of money.

At that period the K1& K2s was scheduled for GC interview but all now is Denied.

Do we have anyone in similar situations or what s the guarantee way to manage this heartbreaking situation???
TIA

Hello everyone,

My fiance came to the US twice when he was a minor with a tourist visa. He used to stay here for vacation and then go back home. At the time of the filling for I-129F he didn't have an adult passport and because of the pandemic was going on we weren't able to get him a new adult passport. So we filed and sent the form using his old passport number (as we didn t want to hold on the form any longer) but now after many months he was finally able to get a new one.

Is there a way we can update the form? Should we wait for an RFE instead?

Is it possible to get approved and just present his new passport at the Embassy/interview?

We sent the form back on November 2020. They asked in the form if he had a passport so that's the reason we wrote down that one, I didn't really lie and wanted to be truthful that he has been here before.

Any input is appreciated a lot.