mattmatt

Thank you! But I have another problem... my signature is apparently too long to add the RoC stuff

I think maybe something changed on the forum in the past few months. I can't get to my signature page to edit it... Any tips?

Ok good to know.  I'll prepare it well ahead of time, and set some calendar reminders when 90 days is approaching so we don't forget.  Thanks again.

Ok, firstly, thanks for the info.  And secondly... I can't file early?  I have to wait to mail the ROC application until her Green Card is 90 days away from expiring?

Hello could somebody please help me learn what we're supposed to do next?

• My wife is from Holland and she came on a K-1 fiancee visa.
• We got married in Dec 2015.
• Her I-765 EAD application was approved and she received her Blue Card in the mail in June 2016.
• Her I-485 AOS application was approved and, after an interview, she received her Green Card in the mail in Oct 2016.
• Since then she's gotten a SSN, NJ Driver's License, credit cards, a bank account; we've co-mingled finances; she pays some of our bills herself.

Questions:

• Her Blue Card expires in approximately 2 months from now.  Does this need to be renewed, or does the Green Card supersede it?  If it needs to be renewed, what USCIS form do we need to file?
• Her Green Card expires in Oct 2018.  I definitely don't want this to expire.  I believe our next step is to remove conditions or something, but I'm kinda fuzzy on the details.  What form(s) should we file, and when?

Thank you very much

For best gift ideas for your fiance's parents, your fiance should be able to give you some real tips on what they like. He knows them best of all. When I visited my in-laws for the first time, I asked my fiancee, and she said that they enjoy wine & chocolate. Easy gifts... I'm lucky. Some people are much harder to shop for.

I brought a bottle of wine from California & Godiva chocolates when I met my in-laws. But then again my situation is different because I am the USC and I was traveling out of the US, so there was no customs concerns. (Not that you can't bring wine or chocolates into the US.)

I would just like to mention something that might be a little culturally insensitive or stereotypical so I apologize if it comes across that way, but in the spirit of friendly dialog: If you are considering bringing in specialty food items from the Philippines, it's quite possible that your fiancé's parents will not like that style of cuisine. I'm not sure what the ethnic background of your fiancé is, but especially if they are white, this is something to consider: Anecdotally, I would estimate that more than half of the white Americans that I know do not like ethnic food, except for styles that are very "Americanized".

Finally, I don't think your fiancé's parents will expect a gift. It's not a big deal if you show up empty handed. If they are good people, they will be more concerned with making YOU feel welcome.

Ok thanks everyone for the info!

I have read many posts stating that transfers of $10,000+ USD (even if done incrementally) must be "reported". How does one report it exactly? Is there a specific form?

The money is my foreign wife's personal savings. It's going from her Netherlands account to her USA account.

Thank you

Thanks Sensuelle1985, Thozelle, Nich-Nick, Newacct, and Fr8dog. I really appreciate your advice.

Hello everybody,

I am the US Citizen. My wife is the foreign non-US-citizen. My wife is unemployed and has made 0 income in the US. We got married in December 2015, so we have to choose one of the two "married" filing statuses.

My wife does not have a SSN. We went to the SSA office to apply for her SSN, but they could not give it because:

1. Even though her K-1 visa had not yet expired, there was less than 2 weeks remaining on the visa until it expired. (We weren't aware of that limitation, or else we would have gone to the SSA earlier.)
2. She did not have an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) yet.

We are currently filing for EAD concurrently with AOS, so we will go back and get an SSN once her EAD arrives. However, in the meantime, the tax filing deadline is coming up and we can't wait for that.

If I file as Married Filing Separate, and put down "NRA" for my wife's SSN, then does she need to file anything herself? I would prefer that she doesn't file anything this year (if that's allowed), because I don't want to report her foreign earnings because the Form 2555 looks ridiculously hard to fill out. I also don't want to get her an ITIN because it's a huge hassle since the only document she has is her foreign passport and they only accept originals or certified copies from the originating agency (which would require a drive to her embassy or a drive to an IRS local office).

I guess my concern is that if I choose Married Filing Separate, will that have any negative impact in the future, such as on her AOS or Naturalization. Fore example, would USCIS look poorley on my wife if she does not file for taxes in 2015?

Thank you

transferred more then that when i moved to the states. Just inform IRS and you'll be fine.

How exactly do you inform the IRS? Is there a special form?

Thank you everyone for your wide variety of replies. It gives me a lot of informstion to consider. This is an example of why I am very thankful of such a great community of helpful people on VJ.

Novedsac makes a good point that I asked for the "wrong thing" in my original post and the subject of this thread. Sorry about wasting your time to the people who shared their advice on the best way to "transfer" money; if I knew better, I should have asked for legit companies that offer the best rates at "exchanging" EUR to USD. The main thing is the exchange-- the money can be wired where it needs to go later.

Anyways, several people have given me great plaves to start looking, so I appreciate that greatly.

Jawaree, I'm not trying to avoid the reporting requirement. I am just trying to find the best exchange rate possible. But anyway, from what I understand, the IRS won't tax the money brought into the USA; they will only tax the interest it earns once placed into an American account.

Sorry I probably should have mentioned this in the original post:

My financee (from Holland) has money in her Netherlands bank account. For discussion's sake, say it's over the reportable amount of $10,000 dollars. Since she'll be moving to America, she needs to transfer all her euros to a dollar account.

Unfortunately, the banks don't give the best exchange rate. For example, today's market rate is 1.12 dollars per euro. But a bank, will only give us, say, 1.0377 dollars per euros. The bank's rate is "based" on the market rate, but they take their own portion of it. So if someone were to buy dollars with their life savings of, say, €100,000, they should get $112,000, but they'll only get $103,770 through the bank. That's a loss of $8,230

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone could recommend legitimate companies that offer better exchange rates than the banks. I'm new to this and am afraid choose my own broker because I am unfamiliar with these companies and I don't know which ones are scams, or if there are any "gotcha's" like huge fees.

Ok thanks for your replies. I just called Customs & Border Protection and asked. They said that if she tried to visit the USA using the ESTA (Visa Waiver Program), whilst the K-1 visa was pending, there would be a "strong" possibility that she would be disallowed entry to the USA upon her arrival at the airport. What's going on here? I thought they were allowed to visit??

Hello,

I have a question about visiting. I understand that the foreign beneficiary can visit for up to 90 days on the ESTA (visa waiver program). After that, they must go back to their country and wait for a certain amount of time.

How long do they have to wait before coming back?

What if they go back, but the K-1 visa is approved? Do they still have to wait the whole time, or can they come to the USA immediatly with the K-1?

Thanks

Alissa, thanks for telling me about the different experiences you had.. I noticed in your timeline it says two congressmen inquired about your case. How did you get that to happen? It looks like the 2nd one really did the trick haha. BTW, you're the same age as Marsha!

Thank you very much Fred. I really appreciate the easy-to-understand timeline of events that you posted. The fact that you are Dutch as well really helps too, for my/our particular situation.

I may take you up on your PM offer sometime; or perhaps my fiancee (Marsha) will, who uses my account too.

Matt

Thank you wbeem, amartins, canadian_wife, and Darnell for the informative replies. Especially thank you amartins for doing all the research and actually linking to the appropriate page of my township's website.

no

After the K-1 visa approval, and after we're married, what process do we need to do in order to get her a permanent resident and/or green card? (I don't know what the difference is)

Does she get something that says she is a US permanent resident in her Dutch passport?

Hello, I am the US citizen. My fiancee is the foreign beneficiary.

When we get married, she wants to change her last name to mine.

I imagine then she'll need a new passport.

She currently has a Dutch passport. Would she get an American passport, or another Dutch passport?

Thanks your answer is very informative.