deerefanatic

Last question, in order to claim her on my taxes, we need to have either an SSN or ITIN. If we process a request with the IRS for an ITIN, will it mess things up later?

My Wife and I were married on 7/7/18. Now we are beginning to look into next steps to get her permanent residency.

She came here for college on an F1 visa from Uganda in August last year. We met for the first time a couple months later. She elected to change her surname to mine when we filled out the marriage license. We now have 2 certified copies of our marriage license in-hand. So I have a few questions:

1: Will she need to get her Uganda passport updated with her changed name before we file for Adjustment of status?

2: She doesn't have an SSN, so my credit union refuses to add her to my bank accounts. Should we plan to open accounts at another bank to prove co-habitation? We are going to be taking out a student loan for her 2018-19 college, so that should count too shouldn't it? (I have to cosign since she doesn't have an ssn)

Thanks for any guidance you can give us.

OK. That's good to know. For bank account, once we have a signed marriage license, it shouldn't be too hard to get an SSN for her to put her on my accounts, right?

Good to know! For the AOS, should I hire a lawyer or are they fairly straightforward? I work in corporate compliance for my day job, so I can fill out paperwork. Just didn't know if there were "gotchas" that would necessitate a lawyer.

Hello all, my first post here. My fiance and I are planning to get married this July. She is here from Uganda on a F1 visa, studying for her MBA. We met several months after she arrived in the US, so there is no foul play or suspicion there.. And she is planning to stay in school even after we are married to finish her degree..

I'm wondering if anyone else here has gone through this? Do we need to file anything prior to the wedding? Or do I just go to the county courthouse and get the marriage license like I would if I were marrying a us citizen? She doesn't have a US photo id, but rather her Passport and College ID's. 

Thanks for any input you all could give me on this.

-Matt