Chilisquid

10 hours ago, Lemonslice said:

You can do all of the bolded actions without a SSN; we did before I moved to the US, and I did it myself to put my foreign family as beneficiaries on some of my accounts.  

 

Best of luck.

Maybe, depends on your bank and insurer, but eventually I'm going to have to file a federal income tax return with married status and I'm going to need to put something down for my spouse's SSN, right ? 

Would it be easier to get an ITIN from IRS instead ?  She will probably never work in the US.  I'm looking into SSA offices and they all seem to be "phone service only"  

12 minutes ago, arken said:

No.

If she applies for it as soon as she arrives, she should be able to get it in a few weeks.

what about this manual verification delay ?  is that still a thing ?  it is discussed here

We would have to get married first, right ?  before applying for the SSN ? 

1 minute ago, arken said:

Once your fiance arrives in the US on the K1 visa, have her apply for her SSN asap. She will get it.

OK, so she doesn't have to have an AOS filed first ?   that's good to know. I wasn't sure from all the guides and discussions I have read so far.   But I'm concerned it will take too long.  She'll have to leave within 90 days.  Will I be able to get an SSN that quickly ?  Some of the discussions and guides listed here talk about long waits, especially if they require manual verification. 

I looked over W8-BEN and it doesn't appear to suit my needs.  She isn't going to have signatory control over any income producing accounts in the USA.  I probably won't open any joint accounts with her until she has immigrant status. I only want to list her as beneficiary on some accounts if I die. 

So am I correct in assuming she cannot get a SSN unless she has immigrant status ?  

3 minutes ago, milimelo said:

For bank account you can do W-8ben and just use her passport number - no SSN needed (works for joint accounts). 
 

Based on what you detail, you’re after a wrong visa. Tourist one would make more sense. 

Thanks for pointing me towards the W8-BEN

Impossible to get a tourist visa for her.  She has no travel history, no assets, no income and no way to prove she'll come back.  The interviewing officer at the embassy will consider her an overstay risk and is certain to deny it.  Once she has been to the US on a k1 visa, and returned without overstay,  then she'll stand a better chance at the tourist visa.  I'll have to write a letter explaining my intentions to reside in thailand and not the USA.  

I applied for the K1 while I was stuck in the US and unable to return to thailand during the covid crisis.  It was a bit of a desperate measure at the time, I was unsure when I would ever get back to thailand to see her again.  Now it is coming to fruition, so I might as well use it.  

Can my non-immigrant spouse get a social security number or taxpayer ID number in the USA for beneficiary purposes only ?   

We plan to travel to the USA on a K1 visa to get married, but don't intend to pursue permanent residency or green card right away.  Maybe after a few years we will do this, but not on our initial trip under the K1 visa. We will forfeit AOS and return to Thailand.  I'm a retired US expat and spend most of my time in Thailand.  I own real-estate there. I don't own any real estate in the US and have no immediate plans to make a permanent home in the US.  Living in Thailand is much cheaper for a retiree. 

But, I want to add her to my US health insurance,  I want to open a joint bank account with her,  and I want to add her as the "Pay on death" or "transfer on death" beneficiary to my banking and brokerage accounts.   All these tasks and forms require her to have some sort of SSN or TIN.    My US health insurance will cover myself and my spouse worldwide. 

I've searched the forums, but all discussions of social security numbers seem to center around employment, and we have no plans for permanent residency in the US right away.   From what I've read so far, it seems that you must at least have filed an AOS before you can apply for SSN. 

1 hour ago, Duke & Marie said:

Form I-864 that you fill out will need you to demonstrate your domicile within the US, this can prove challenging for US citizens who live overseas during the application process. 

I checked out form I-864, I don't think I'll have a problem proving my income and domicile in the US.  

Should I include any proof of my income and net worth with my k1 application  ?   I didn't see any references to income in the RFE masterlist

7 hours ago, Duke & Marie said:

Just remember that if you plan on living in Thailand while the application is processing (which could be 6+ months for k1 or 12+ for CR1) you’ll still need to ensure you retain US domicile and adequate employment for sponsorship/AOS processing... or you’ll open yourself up to other problems 

I'm retired. As long as I can prove my net worth and income, what other problems am I opening myself up to ?

On 8/14/2020 at 7:53 PM, aaron2020 said:

There are serious drawbacks with a K-1.  Cost of AOS.  Waiting for endless boring months for work authorization and the ability to travel internationally.   Have you considered these issues?

Work authorization isn't an issue.  But inability to travel is.  How long to process an AOS ?

The domicile in the US is not a problem. I'm retired, and have a high net worth.  Should I include proof of this in my initial K1 application  ?

1 hour ago, xxlian said:

Just be aware that if you abandon the K1 and start on a CR1, you will have to start at the beginning of the line (which defeats the purpose of starting on the K1 to get ahead to start with) and will also have to pay fees again. At that point, the CR1 would also be a longer wait.

Does a CR1 take longer than a K1 ?

At that point, we'll be together in thailand, and waiting won't be an issue.  I'll file the k1 now, see what happens.

i have a feeling Thailand will open up before it gets adjudicated, in which case I'll get married there and do a CR1

Ok thanks

Filing on Monday. Just waiting on some document translations

Probably should move this to another forum, but I can't figure out how to do that

Just read the article below. Should I bother filing for a k1 visa now ?  No other option for me.  I'm in the US, she's in Thailand.  I'm not allowed to enter Thailand. 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/andyjsemotiuk/2020/08/13/us-immigration-shutdown-imminent-as-congress-talks-collapse/amp/

On 7/26/2020 at 11:59 AM, Sparkle Sparkle said:

Don't do K1... I repeat don't do it... Get married

Ain't got no choice, she's in Thailand and I'm in the US

if I include a scan of my short form US birth certificate as well as a scan of my passport, will that be enough to verify my citizenship  ?  Or do I need the long form birth certificate no matter what ?