Sean and Kristina

Nothing for you to do. After the 90 day window she would be in overstay.

For what it's worth, I filed a medium complexity 1040 return on Feb 4 and received my refund on Feb 18. The IRS site for ordering transcripts already shows my 2015 return as available for order.

That's a bit harsh. He's entitled to an opinion. It's called free speech. That's the whole point of democtatic elections and the right to vote - to allow your opinion to count.
Perhaps a public venue such as Facebook is not the best way to air your views when you are going through immigration but nevertheless he is entitled to his opinion.
The system is not perfect, by any means. But it's the only system we have to be with our loved ones. There are many things I don't agree with in this process (auto-expedite based on geography/nationality being one, by the way) but it is what it is.

See here I"m attaching my version of the election statement IRC Section 6013g NRA Election for RA.pdf
Feel free to use it. I tried uploading the Word document so you can edit it but apparently I can only upload a PDF version.

Glad you kept your mod hat on for that one. Well said.

Bluntly? Shun those greedy manipulators. Cut them off completely. Life is far too short. If they continue to pester you, tell them to take a short walk off a long pier.

It's not just an Indian family thing. My in-law family hated me something silly when hubby and I first started dating. I was the trashy, gold digging, visa seeker who deleted the emails they sent him. Almost 11 years later and we've been married for 3 years and MIL is somewhat taking the hint that I'm not going to go away and pretending to like me is the only way hubby will keep in touch.
They lie and MIL is the worst attention seeking manipulator I've met. But here's our trick; communication happens to be a two way street so the whole "you never call" doesn't wash cause neither do they. We move where we want to because we're grown ups and go where the work is. If they want to visit they can but we aren't going to visit them every single holiday and we aren't staying in town just so MIL can have her kids around. We don't brown nose just to stop MIL from getting her feelings hurt cause all in all, what matters most is that we count too.
I have my husbands back and he has mine. We are a family that they are an extension of and under our roof we matter most. Not them.
If you guys don't need them for anything in particular loosen the strings and don't contact them as often. Live your life together, be happy together and remember that it's you and him not you him and them. They'll get over themselves eventually and if they don't then tough luck for them. All their thinking and saying and lying can only be your downfall if you let it.

Why you chose to get out early has no bearing on whether you have a bona fide relationship or not. It's about as relevant as the color of your underwear.

So.. I just got back from the Philippines last Feb. 18, 2015 and thought of sharing my experience.
It starts at the Philippine airport (NAIA Terminal 2). At check-in, they asked me for proof that I am admissible to the US. They need to make sure they wont get in any trouble for allowing/carrying you on board their plane to USA. I showed the lady my combo card and she has never seen it before. She asks for my greencard so I explain to her why I have the combo card instead and what it's for. She goes to her supervisor who is equally clueless about it so they decided to just go ahead and give me my ticket and a small yellow form I had to fill out, then told me show my combo card to the customs officer who would know more about it. At customs, I gave them my passport, combo card, and that little yellow sheet and no questions were asked.
After 12 hours ... Arrived at LAX 6:00AM
I asked the lady assisting passengers if I should line up at the Visitors or Permanent Resident/Citizen lane, and she said just line up anywhere since everywhere is pretty much empty. She also said that she usually asks combo card users to line up at the Visitor lane though. I handed the CBP officer my passport, customs declaration paper, and my combo card. He asked me what food I brought in since I checked that on the declaration paper. And then he asked me to put my fingers on their machine for fingerprinting.
He continued checking my documents and looked extremely lost so I offered my AP NOA2 letter which he gladly accepted. He said the letter was familiar to him, but the combo card wasn't. He even asked if I had a letter/form with a picture on the bottom right of it, to which I said no. (no idea what letter he was referring to.) After checking things on his computer, he kept my documents and just asked me to stand near by and an officer will come get me for my secondary inspection.
The 2nd officer then brought me to an office nearby. I think it was called the Admissibility Office. He just asked me to go in and sit and reminded me that cellphone use is prohibited. It was pretty early and there were only 3 other people there who were also in the same flight I was, so I only had to wait about 10 mins to get called. The officer just asked if I was travelling alone, nothing else. He checked if I was out of status at any point. (I was, but was below 180 days. I had no arrests or convictions and my record was clean). He just wrote and typed a lot and then gave me a small paper detailing that I was admitted to the US on parole which is good for 1 year. I verified if my pending petition for adjustment would get affected, and he said No and I was good to go. He said that since I have No status as my adjustment petition is still pending, the paper lets me stay for 1 more year until a decision is made on my AOS. I just handed my passport and parole form to the lady at the desk before leaving the office, and then I collected my bags and went on to my connecting flight to NC. I arrived in Jacksonville, NC around 9pm and found my loving husband waiting for me with a bouquet of flowers. (Ehem! Guys, this is a really sweet thing to do.. )
It was scary since my entry back into the US was relying on someone else's discretion and the combo card was not an assurance that I could get back in. I read a lot of stories about it here on VJ but I still didn't know what to expect. But overall, the entire experience was not as stressful as I expected. I was prepared to show all my papers, including NOA2's, the letter that came with the combo card, and my marriage certificate etc., but he never asked me for it. Still, its better to keep these things in your carry-on since not a lot of CBP officers are aware that the combo card even exists. There ya go, hopefully this will help others who are planning to come back in using the combo card.

I think I may be able to help you. I work at SSA. So here it is:
I've seen many EAD and LPR with just a middle initial. NO FULL MIDDLE NAME. That's just something DHS does, I dont know why, but that is how they issue the names on some immigrant cards.
As for SSA, only the first name and last name are what matter in our system. So, that lady could've put your husband's full middle name on there and it still would've worked, the system would've taken it. But she was just being straight by the book because technically we have to go by what the immigration document has on it.
I know, because I was that way at first when I began working there, but then once I tried inputting the full middle name and saw that it worked. I would go ahead and input the whole middle name in my system and it processed it successfully.
Be advised, do not plan on going back into the office this week requesting a new card because of the incomplete middle name. This time, it wont be the representative denying it, but the system as well. It's too late to do any changes. You'll have to wait until it processes it and issues the card, and your husband can just ask for a replacement afterwards, claiming he lost it. That's when he can request, politely, for his full middle name to be inputted, like telling the SSA representative "please, just humor me, and see if it works." Which it should.
Hope that helps.

Hang on a mo -
get on a PC, use the advanced search tool,
look up Gary & Alla,
as
he has a topic about what one of his step-sons did.
The only nugget that I'll mention - is a semester is never 6 months anywhere, so you can transit back to usa when school is not in session.

I suggest no.

It is actually more about local USCIS office than the type of visa (the VJ processing times table is the evidence to that). Wiss is with Denver office that just began reviewing March petitions.

@wiss7 -- this thread is for people adjusting from non-family visas (i.e., not from K-1 like yourself). You might have better luck asking on these forums where people will have a more comparable experience to yours:
http://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/7-adjustment-of-status-green-card-from-family-based-visas/
http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/551219-june-2015-aos-filers-merged-threads/
http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/555340-july-2015-aos-filers/page-75

I am going to get a lot of flack for my opinion.
I know most people on here are against lawyers, but I am the opposite. Having a lawyer was wonderful. I have browsed these forums through my whole journey and have seen a lot of incorrect information provided by people who pretend to be experts on immigration because they have read about it or have gone through the process themselves. I have seen some genuinely horrible advice on here. I know lawyers aren't perfect but that is why you do research before choosing one.

Since you were married in 2015, you can file jointly regardless of his immigration status by electing to be treated as a resident alien for tax purposes for all of 2015. There is a statement to write and both sign. See Publication 519, about page 9 I think, where it tells what to include in your statement. So bingo, he's filing just like any USC as far as the IRS rules go. No alien or non-resident rules to consider.
If he files jointly then worldwide income from either spouse must be reported. That does not mean taxed. So yes his Jan-May NZ income is converted to US$ and reported as income. It is self reported so no W2 type document is asked for. He will be eligible for Form 2555 or the shorter 2555EZ Foreign Income Exclusion which is why I said he won't be taxed on it. The tax is figured a little differently with a foreign exclusion. Many think it just subtracts his income off the total. Not exactly. There is a worksheet or TurboTax will do it do it in the background without you knowing what is happening.
It works like this:
Figure tax on all the income yours and his....$xxxx.xx
Figure what tax would be on just his foreign income....$yyyy,yy
Subtract $xxxxx minus $yyyyy and your actual real tax is the difference.
It is basically letting you take off the amount of tax his added income generates.
It's usually a good deal and better than you filing separately because you get the extra $10,000+ In exemption and standard deduction for adding a spouse and his foreign exclusion means his part of the tax gets subtracted as well.
If your tax professional tells you you can file jointly and ignore the NZ income, then find another one.
He needs an ITIN to file if he will not have a SSN to file with. Your timeline indicates he has an EAD card. Go to a Social Security office and get a SSN. He is eligible for one because he has EAD. You don't have to wait on the greencard.
Just noticed Maria has already replied while I was typing. I agree that taxes are very specific to incomes and this might not be the only option but more than likely it is a good one because of the benefits that US taxpayers get you couldn't claim if he didn't file with you and you had to file Married Separately.

I'm not familiar with the F-1 Visa and what benefits or rules come along with that but I can try and answer some of your questions from a general perspective since much of this information and suggestions would be based on knowledge of income levels.
Most often than not it is always best to file MFJ because it is the most favorable filing status. Generally speaking, with income levels of under 100k it almost always is. Your foreign spouse sounds like he is probably a dual status alien for 2015 since he entered the U.S. mid-year. (This may be affected by the F-1 Visa in some way - that I wouldn't know.) With all that said, if you choose to file MFJ with a dual status foreign spouse you must make sure to include an election statement whereby choosing to treat your foreign spouse as a resident alien for the entire year 2015. That allows you to file MFJ, however, in choosing that election I believe you cannot also choose to apply any foreign treaty agreements... but this shouldn't be a problem since you can include Form 2555 to exclude foreign income. MFJ you are reporting worlwide income, hence having to use form 2555 to apply the foreign income exclusion.
Now with all that said above... your foreign spouse would be treated as a resident alien for the entire year 2015 and as such is able to apply any and all deductions and credits available to a U.S. resident. This would allow you to claim education benefits for expenses paid in 2015. Not the American Opportunity Credit because that is for undergraduate work but look at the other one - the Lifetime Learning Credit.
You definitely need him to obtain his SSN for filing purposes.
Again, all this is based on assuming certain things and we don't know what type of income levels are involved in your financial situation. My best advice is to make sure the tax preparer is competent in this area of taxes involving foreign income and resident/nonresident status determinations and elections. Last but not least, run the numbers both ways, as MFS and MFJ, to make sure you are maximizing your tax benefits.

Hey All,
Yesterday, I received my Form I-551 also known as "Green Card" in my mailbox! Holy moly, the sheer security features built into the card makes you feel like you have gained access to something out of the world! I have to thank The Almighty, for getting me here under such short amount of time!
We couldn't have done it without the extensive guidance from this forum and all its members. Thank you all, I will be sure pass this on to everyone in this forum as much as I can..
Say strong people, we will all get there eventually!

This sub-forum is for those adjusting from Student, Tourist and Work visas. It is NOT for K-1 persons.
K-1 persons have another sub-forum at: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/560526-august-2015-filers/
There are some differences in the procedures and experiences of the two sub-groups, so persons can be misled by following along a group that is not applicable to their situation.

I wanted to share my experience travelling outside the US while my permanent residence application (I 485) was pending. In other words, my experience when I entered the US with an I 512 Advance Parole - Travel Document. I hope sharing my experience will help others.
I entered the US while my application was pending about 20 times. I have to travel a lot for business reasons out of the country. My I 485 application took a long time to process, so I had to enter the US every time I travelled with an I 512 Advance Parole - Travel Document while my application was pending.
During that time I entered the US by airplane about 10 times, and the other 10 times I entered by land from Mexico.
I should note, I had a different experience when I entered by airplane vs land.
Airplane:
I had to fill-out an I 94 form in the plane like if I was entering with a Visa. Except that I left in blank in the I 94 form: “the city where the visa was issued”. Once I went to the immigration area, I always asked the person who was in charge of forming the lines, if I should go to the US Citizens/Permanent Residents line or to the Visitors line. Sometimes I was instructed by him to go to the Visitors line and other times I was instructed to go to the US Citizens/Permanent Residents line, but regardless of which line I was instructed to go, once it was my turn with the Immigration Officer (IO), he checked my passport, I 512 document (now included in the EAD card) and the I 94 Form, then he asked me one or two very simple questions, and then I was always instructed to go to secondary inspection. In secondary inspection, I waited approx 1.5-2.5 hours for my turn with an IO (a very long time in my opinion). Once it was my turn, they asked me between 10-50 simple questions. It took about 25-35mins. Also, some times, they also checked my bags thoroughly with x-rays, and physically. It took another 10-20 mins. After that, they stamped my passport and the bottom portion of the I 94 form with a “Paroled stamp”, the day’s date and the date paroled until (usually it was one year from the day’s date.) (The “Paroled stamp” is a different stamp than the regular “Admitted stamp” when you enter with a Visa.)
Land:
When I entered by land it was a different story:
When I entered driving my car:
When it was my turn with the IO., he didn’t ask any questions. Just checked my passport and the I 512 document (now it is included with the EAD card). One time the IO didn’t send me to secondary inspection of my car and I was good to go, but all the other times the IO sent me to secondary inspection of my car. I had to get out of my car and go to a room to wait for the officers to inspect the car. It took 20mins.- 50mins. Once they finished inspecting the car, I was good to go. They didn’t stamp my passport with any stamp, nor did they require an I 94 form to be filled out.
One time I entered by foot (walking by land) (I had left my car parked in the US side of the border):
Same line for US Citizens than visitors I passed to the IO booth, and he asked 2 simple questions, and that was it. No secondary inspection, no need to fill out I 94 forms, nor did they stamp my passport.
Also, I should note that you cannot apply to the Global Entry program (Frequent Traveller program) with an I 512 Advance Parole Travel Document. You have to wait until you have your Green Card to apply.
Hope it helps for those in a similar situation.

Hold up did they just say that they show no evidence this woman showed up for her K1 Visa Interview. They show a no show and don't see where she was rescheduled.

Oh Boy can we say a major in house at the embassy scam here. We need to stay on this story cuz the world outside has no idea what this means.
You hear all the time the backroom payoff's and people paying "Extra" to get visas. Oh boy.

Thought I'd share my POE experience yesterday after I applied for a re-entry permit (which was denied at first then approved). It had been 5 months and a few days since my last time in the US (I was in Guam for a week over Christmas).
I did the LPR line (this is POE Seattle) and this was the dialogue:
CBP: Where are you coming from?
Me: Shanghai via Seoul
CBP: How long were you there for?
Me: About 5 months since last time I was in the US
CBP: What were you doing there?
Me: My husband works in Shanghai
CBP: How long are you staying here before you go back again?
Me: About two months
So the CBP officer said I needed to apply for a re-entry permit (I replied: I have one!) He asked to see it and said I had to present that (made it sound like I have to show my permit every time I enter the US now, regardless of the time I've been out). He then stamped my permit, not my passport. Is that normal? I was prepared to be questioned, because you never know, and it's been a while since I'd been back (during which I traveled quite a bit), but I was kind of expecting to get stamps in both my passport and my permit.
My takeaway from this experience: if you know you're going to be out of the country for a while and you're a LPR, fork the money out and apply for a re-entry permit. And if things get messed up, follow through until you get it. Better safe than sorry.

I am sure that after what happened on Dec 2nd, immigration is going to get a lot more difficult. You are definitely hearing more about the K1 Visa process in the media after this. The thing I don't like is that we all know what the process is and how difficult it can be, yet media bring their "immigration lawyers" on there to talk about it and the funny thing is - I know more about the K1 Visa process (thanks to Visa Journey and our own journey thru it) than the lawyer they interviewed.

It is a shame that possibly one bad person can make the process more difficult for real, honest and true loving relationships. I know we must be vigilant, but shaming the K1 Visa process just rubs me the wrong way. Just my opinion

It doesn't. You can travel anywhere in the US, including its territories. You just cannot go on any cruises or plane trips that will land you outside the US or its territories. AP is only needed to re-enter the US, if you leave it. They will need their passport. https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/980/~/needing-a-passport-to-enter-the-united-states-from-u.s.-territories
~ Moved from K-1 Process to Working & Traveling During US Immigration - topic is travel ~

No. I was traveling on AP in Prague while green card got approved. Upon entry, I told an immigration officer the story. He sent me to secondy and they looked it up and admitted me as a LPR. Do not send it to Italy , poste italiane is notorious when it comes losing stuff and a replacement green card isn't cheap. Sorry about your loss

It is yours for your own personal use. It is not a gift for someone in the US and you won't be selling it there. No need to declare it.
~ Moved from K-1 Process to Working & Traveling During US Immigration - topic is travel ~