Beth&JP

Hey everyone, sorry if this is the wrong forum, but while filling out paperwork for my husband's AOS/affidavit of support, I think I (US citizen) have uncovered a horrible mistake that I've been making for the last few years.

Every once and a while I'd go on the IRS website, do their little "Do I Need to File a Tax Return?" and it would ask me for my gross income, and it would generally be like $300-600 (after taking into account the foreign income exclusion from Form 2555) due to odd jobs on the internet. Well, now I was googling around to see how not filing would affect the affidavit of support... and... I think I took too many assumptions with the IRS tool. It seems like the exempted foreign income needs to be included in the gross income (which is confusing, because as you fill out your tax return, the "total income" and "adjusted gross income" doesn't include that foreign income.

Anyhoo, has anyone been in the same situation? I'm not really sure where to move forward here and could use some input from someone who knows about taxes or has been in the same situation.

Thanks so much!

If we apply now (married 1.5 years), but they approve his visa after we've been married for 2 years, would there still be conditions on his green card?

5 minutes ago, NuestraUnion said:

The second is your bf maintaining his permanent resident status once he receive his GC. You state you want to adjust his status before returning to Chile where you will have a remote job. So it sounds like you will be returning to Chile to live. The GC (permanent resident) is required to maintain residence in the US or risk losing status. You should look into him getting a reentry permit which allows him to be outside the US for up to 2 years with no issue. But beyond that he will likely have to return to live in the US if he wants to remain a permament resident.

I didn't realize that there would be conditions if we were already married. (We're married, but it has been less than two years.) It looks like you're able to remove the conditions 90 days before your 2year greencard expires... but are you able to do it early? We'll have our 2-year anniversary in like 6 months. 

If not, what are the in-country requirements? I can't seem to find the minimum amount of days. We can stay in the US for longer if need be, just need to be here minimum a year.

In order to do what you want to do he will have to be a US citizen. That way he can be outside the US for however long he wants without risk of denied entry. But that still requires him to be a PR within the US for a period of time.

Oh, I know he can still be denied entry, but with PR it's unlikely since Chile is considered low-risk in pretty much everything (they even have a visa waiver program which allowed his mom to visit with us once, and there's no way she would have qualified for a tourist visa). Since he's legit only doing touristy things (I've double checked all of his courses and volunteer opportunities), traveling in and out of the country, traveling around the country (my weekend trips to visit family are 1 week trips for him) I thought he was going to be okay on the tourist visa.

4 minutes ago, KULtoATL said:

1) For the I-864, your current income is what matters. It doesn't matter that you made lower and didn't meet the poverty guideline in the last few years.

So they don't really take into account the income from the last 3 years of income statements? Just the current income? That's good news, since I brought it up to my parents last night and they seemed willing, but uncomfortable with the idea of being co-sponsors (totally understandable!)

2) Affidavit is very secondary. You got to work on getting more substantial evidence. One of the major ones could be power of attorney for each other and a will.

I'll... have to look into that. Does VisaJourney have a standard power of attorney or will format that works best for that? Would the power of attorney/will have to be for both people? I've never "adulted" in the US, so a lot of this is new to me, haha.

So! Just for some backstory: I (US citizen) took a transfer at my work, and moved from Chile to the US. The plan is to be in the US for a year, then take the job remote back to Chile. My husband (Chilean) is just kind of hanging out for the year, taking courses related to his line of work, English classes, doing some traveling, doing some volunteering, etc. Well, apparently the guy at immigration didn't like that the last time he came into the country! He grudgingly stamped his passport for an additional 6 months and told my husband that he should get his paperwork sorted out. We thought the tourist visa would be okay for the year (we're traveling to Chile for a bit at the 6-month mark, which would renew the tourist visa supposedly), but now we're afraid they might not let him into the US next time :/ So we're looking to do the AOS before heading back to Chile.

My questions:

1) I've been earning less than the US poverty line for the last few years (because, well, that's actually pretty decent for Chile), but now I'm earning over $50,000. Is there anyway to take my current wage into account for sponsoring the visa, or will I need a co-sponsor?

2) As a side question for Evidence of Bona fide Marriage, we don't really have any assets or anything physically linking us together since leases and bank accounts in Chile don't really have co-signers, so we'll probably be doing affidavits from witnesses. Locally, we have 1 friend that was at our wedding and 1 friend that visited us at our house in Chile a couple of months ago (hadn't met my husband previously, but my friend for over a decade). We could also get my parents (also at our wedding, we visited them, they visited us, etc.) to sign an affidavit, but that might delay the process a bit since they're traveling and we don't live in the same area. Will the two local be okay? Should we do all three? We've lived together for the last 7 years and have traveled together, so I feel like they won't doubt too much that our marriage is real, but I just want to be safe.

Thanks!

37 minutes ago, Snorlux said:

It was during my adjustment of status from tourist visa to permanent resident. So at the time my petition for travel document, work permit and greencard were all pending. In other words, I didn't have any permission to work in the country, no SSN but had the right to stay in the country while my USCIS petition was pending.

 

And I can say for sure that they added me on the account without SSN etc because I found a statement from October 2015, it had both mine and my wife's name and Social Security doesnt assign a number for you until you get your work permit, i got my work permit in December 2015 so there you have it  

 

I'm pretty sure they will want a way to prove you entered the country legally so might look for a stamp in your passport or maybe an i94? 

Okay great. Slightly different situation since he's just on a tourist visa, but maybe it'll work. We'll give it a try!

On 8/1/2017 at 4:20 PM, Snorlux said:

In regards to checking accounts, before i got my SSN I was able to open an account with my wife (US Citizen) at Citibank. They only wanted to see my passport.

Did you have a residency visa/work permission when you applied? Or were you on a tourist visa?

So my husband's going to be visiting on a tourist visa, and I just found out that my bank requires a SSN for authorized users. :/ Bummer. They don't even allow me to put an authorized user on my debit card.

As the title sayd: Does anyone have tips on where to get a Credit Card that allows authorized users without SSN?

Okay, my fiance was given a letter after applying and interviewing for the tourist visa saying that "your case is in administrative processing" and check out the local embassy website to see if it was approved.

Well... he interviewed on April 30th. The embassy website just updated today... until April 29th, and it only updates once a month... so I went a-snoopin' because I don't like waiting!!!

Google-fu'ed my way to this website: https://ceac.state.gov/CEACStatTracker/Status.aspx

Put in his embassy, put in his case number that they gave him (2013XXXXXX1)... tells me it's not valid. Well, i then look at the text under the case number box and it says (e.g., AA0020AKAX or 2012118 345 0001).... so then I put in 2013xxx xxx 0001.

Success!

I get a box that says this:

So.... did he get is visa?!?!?!?

Am I just getting my hopes up?!??!?!

I also did the same thing with another random case number on the updated list from the local embassy, and it came up as:

U.S. Department of State

Thanks everyone for the input.

Edit: Nevermind the question I just posted! Seems to been answered and answered over and over again with an astounding NO!!! (no, the I-134 affidavit of support will not help me)

Oh, and I don't see how to edit, but I'd like to add that I haven't bought my flight yet because I want to make sure that I get on the same flight as him to help him through the airport, etc. His English is OK, but definitely not the best.

His brother also has a Gringa girlfriend and got his tourist visa, and has gone there and come back a couple of times. I'm not sure if this is helpful at all... he got his tourist visa with help from his work though (Chilean airline).

Hi everyone! I'm a US citizen and a legal resident of Chile. This is my temporary home with my Chilean fiance for minimum 2years, probably max 5 years.

I'm not a permanent resident yet, but I'll be applying for that in August (same time as our trip, that'll be fun... but for a different forum...)

Well, my parents invited us on a family vacation in Hawaii! Yay, fun! Not so fun is that we're now getting around to getting my fiance's visa since his work situation has been settled (was on a temp. contract, now a permanent employee, so better for getting the visa in my opinion.)

Well, my parents and siblings have already bought their flights, and my parents have rented out the house. My parents will also be paying for half of our flights and most of our stay (very generous!!!).

I bought a car and I rent an apartment here in Chile. Unfortunately, it's not possible to have anything like this in my fiance's name because he's defaulted on some debts.

He works full time and studies. He'll be getting a letter from both his work and university saying that he has permission to take time off for this vacation. We'll also be sending in the flight information and rental house's agreement with the visa application.

Would there be anything else useful when turning in the paperwork? Would my parents' bank statements help? Or mine?

I feel pretty pessimistic about his chances since he got denied for a student visa to the US 2 years ago, but I'd never tell him that!!!

But, the visa fee got knocked down to US$160, rather than the $500+ it was a couple of years ago, so I'm more than willing to take the chance.

Plus, he hasn't met half of my family, so it'll be a good chance for him to meet my other sister and brother.

Any help or insight would be appreciated!

Pfuh.... So now that I'm all settled in Chile with my residency and everything, my fiance has had some of his previous loans sneak up on him in the most unpayable way. So, now we're looking into moving to the US, so that we can pay what's unpayable on a Chilean salary with a US salary. We're planning on getting married and starting the visa application right away.

1: Will huge amounts of loans (some are defaulted... we're working those out now) affect the visa application? I know that it might affect the local police from letting out of the country (eeps!) but we'll definitely have all of his loans on payment plans by then, so that won't be a problem. We just want to turn in the application as soon as possible, so some of the loans might not sorted out before we turn in the visa application.

2: We can't seem to do a DCF because Chile doesn't have that any more (boo!), so we're filing with USC Chicago Lockbox. Via this thread: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/357465-usc-petitioner-living-abroad/, we're still deciding whether to mail it directly from here, or to use my "permanant residence" in the United States(aka mom and dad's house) and have them write "filed from abroad" all over it. Any other input?

3: Pre-nup.... we're gonna have a prenup here, but we can do a post-nup once in the US, right? I figure dealing with the international bit of it is too difficult, so I think it's best to just deal with that once in the US. Will this affect the visa application? Basically we just want separate financials, because we both screwed up pretty well in our respective country.

Any input is helpful! My head is still spinning from trying to process all the information!!!

PS: my parents are co-sponsering his visa.

Would him being married to a US citizen be a disadvantage when applying for the visa?

Hi there,

Basic background: I'm a US citizen, he's Chilean (so no VWP... yet), and we've decided to live in Chile for a period of time (~10 years?) and then possibly immigrate to the US after this period. We'll marry in Chile early 2013.

My question is the following: is there any sort of visitor's visa that he would be able to obtain in the future, so that he can come with me on trips to visit my family for Christmas, family events, etc. etc.? All of the non-immigration visas for spouses seem to have the intention of eventual immigration... and one time things. Is there really no visa for multiple entries over several years? I'd hate to have to apply for a visa each and every time that we want to visit the US together, but that seems to be the case... and that it's a disincentive to give him the visa because we're married... Please tell me I'm wrong!

Thank you,

Beth

How long is your fiance planning to spend studying in Oz?

He would be there at least as long (July-November), possibly longer if he entered on his own (sublcass 570) instead of as my dependent (on my subclass 573) visa.

It's only a semester long: July-November/December.

I don't understand what his residency situation would be. Obviously he wouldn't be a permanent resident as he would just be on on a student visa...

Hmm...

So there are three things motivating this question. Obviously the first is that we love each other and we want to be together. I'm going to graduate this December, and my school offers a program in Australia that has some wonderful courses that I just couldn't take at my university, so it would really help me broaden my education.

The third and most important is that my fiance was denied for a student visa to study English here in the US, and he really wants to enter a university ASAP when he gets here... so since he can't do that, going to Australia would offer an alternative opportunity to learn English as a second language (rather than as a foreign language.)

My parents are co-sponsors, so my lack of working history is (as far as I know...) irrelevant. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Would we be able to start the application process while he's in Chile and I'm in the US, and then finish it while on a student visa in Australia? Would we simply be able to process it all while in Australia? I'm not changing my permanent address or anything since it's a student visa (therefore temporary)... but I'm not really sure how it affects things. Would we be able to do all of the interviews in Australia?

I'm so confused. @_@ Help!

Thanks for your help!

I didn't read the 5 pages of notes, just your original message.

Obviously there were things going on other than Valentine's day and the NOA2.

When relationships start getting real, some people freak out. They might play along for a while, but when it starts getting real, the show how they really feel. To complicate things she's leaving her home country, friends, and family. To complicate things further, she's from a culture which deeply respects the opinions of their parents well into adulthood, often letting them make serious life-changing decisions for them.

I was once engaged to my high school sweetheart. But it was really a 3 strikes you're out thing when I ended it with him. After 2 years of dating I invited him to my family's Thanksgiving. After weeks of fighting over it, he finally (albeit sarcastically) asked if I wanted to go to his family's Thanksgiving. If he had asked me day 1 I would have said yes.

After 3 years of dating and being engaged, he didn't want to share family Christmases. He finally gave in, but it was like "I have to convince you of this???"

When I went to study abroad in Chile, he refused to come and visit me. It would have provided no financial hardship for him because his parents provide him everything, and he doesn't even have a part-time job (full time student).

The accumulation of all of that led to the end of our relationship. I ended it when I went to Chile. I felt that he wasn't mature enough to commit the rest of my life to, so why wait? As cold as it sounds, sometimes it's better for both parties to just end a relationship if there's fundamental differences.

The fact that you were "withholding" the NOA2 from her was probably that final strike. There were probably other instances in your relationship where you inadvertently made her feel powerless. As if everything was up to YOU because you have the "power," the money, and she's going to your country. She might have started thinking months ago "How long is this going to be a power struggle? When will I be an equal in this relationship?" I'm guilty of that as well. I'm trying as hard as I can to keep my fiance informed. To make sure that his input counts for half of all of my decisions. Because in the end, it's my decision if he gets to come here or not. There's a definite power imbalance when someone from the US petitions for a fiance visa. I could go and live in Chile easy enough, but he can't just waltz into the US.

So yes, she froze a little about the NOA2. She probably would have gotten over it eventually. You both probably would have gotten over the Valentine's thing (which definitely was NOT her fault in my opinion.) But, put those together with months of mounting tension and... kabluey. It just explodes. Sometimes the stress of the whole process and the relationship just gets to people. Maybe your relationship would have worked out if you had gone to live in India for a couple years. Maybe it would've worked out if she was coming from Canada instead. Who knows. Just try to learn from this experience. Take note of what you did wrong, and where you were too passive aggressive. No one is perfect in this world, and trying to blame everything on everyone else won't get you anywhere.

Hey, my fiance and I have a fairly similar story.

I was studying abroad in Santiago last year. We met Feb 2010 and we started dating right away. I decided to hold off my studies for a semester to hang around and see where our relationship was heading. He officially proposed this January, and now I'm back at UW Madison (had to mention it because you said Wisconsin, haha) studying again. We tried getting him here on a student visa so that he could learn English and meet my family, with no intention to immigrate. However, he was denied for insufficient home ties (boo!)

Now we're trying to figure out how if I studied abroad in Australia for the second semester of 2011 (... Fall semester here, Spring semester there. @_@ The whole switch of seasons thing throws me off...) and if he came with me... how that would affect getting a fiance visa... him applying from Australia and all of that. It would allow him to study English, which means that he could then study in the US afterwards. Either way, we're depending on my parents as co-sponsors if we decide to go for the fiance visa.

We just want to be together, but he also wants to start studying again, after his "criminalistica" degree didn't pan out. So we're trying to figure out everything, and we're kind of rushed against the beginning of the school year in Chile. We'd both like for him to get an education here in the US... but we're afraid of getting denied again.

Are you guys planning on staying in Wisconsin after you're married? If we come back here, it would nice to meet another couple who has dealt with everything that we're going through.

Good luck with your journey!

Beth