WeekendPizzaiolo

Yes, depending on the officer. Multiple trips where two spouses are apart for a long period (weeks or months) is more likely to arouse suspicion, but one cannot be reasonably expected to have a perfectly aligned travel schedule where both spouses are physically together all the time. Work imposes constraints. Officers ask a multitude of questions to see where the answers lead and whether the person's pattern of travel behavior is reasonable. I, for one, like to shop a little bit before returning home so I am a habitual declarer at customs. When they occasionally probe deeper, I answer everything they want to know, and then I continue on my way with my carpet and Turkish delights.

This website says this only goes back 10 years, so it would only cover a limited period. A FOIA request might show entries for the 1990s but it might not have exits for 1996. Exit data was not transmitted to CBP from airlines until mid-2000s. US biometric exit verification was only implemented very recently. Your mother probably needs a waiver, which is usually filed after the CO finds her inadmissible due to entry without inspection (EWI). The evidence for this is likely a bit more involved. I would venture to guess this is not DIY and requires an immigration attorney with a positive track record with waivers.

One cannot file taxes with their mother. Their mother may declare the child as a dependent, but only if they're younger than 19 (or under full 24 as a student) or the adult child of any age is declared permanently and totally disabled. Claiming dependents is not the same as filing taxes. The only two people who can file together are spouses. It's much better to file N-400 under the 3 year rule when the married couple has been filing jointly, but it's still possible if both parties filed separately, just not ideal. If her husband is listed as non-filing, this needs to be rectified before filing. Not sure what you mean by "under the table"? Informal gigs are ok (e.g. car washing in people's driveways) but all income (including cash) needs to be reported with any applicable taxes paid. Some report this on Schedule C (business income).

No big deal. A lot of states are scanning and reprinting old B/W birth certificates onto special paper with security features when ordering new certified copies of birth certificates. The paper features a certified copy serial number, blue guilloché border, and a water mark. It sounds normal. I expect many COs will have noticed it when ordering new copies of their own birth certificates. When the paper is photo copied, it says "VOID" over it.

I read that as well. According to this article, the new 2020 version that was discontinued in 2021 (in favor of the 2008 version) does not look too difficult. The administration is considering bringing back the 2020 test. The new question bank increases from 100 questions to 128. Instead of needing to get 6 out of 10 right, applicants must get 12 out of 20 right. If one is getting close to the minimum of 60% when practicing, they leave little room for error and risk failure. Some of the new questions include: Why did the US enter World War I? When did women get the right to vote? Name an American invention. What is Veteran's Day? What is Memorial Day? There are no questions out of left field (e.g. explain a change the 12th amendment made to the electoral college). As long as someone aims comfortably above minimum score, they should be ok.

I do not believe that is correct. If a passport is lost, a new passport must be applied for in person. You present an original and a photocopy of your citizenship evidence. See: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/how-apply/citizenship-evidence.html I did not make an absolute statement that a CoC is required. Many have already chimed in that a certificate may make the child's bureaucratic life easier years or decades later for different reasons. One should consider N-600 when they have the funds. I never assume my loved ones will have the same tolerance for bureaucracy and forms that I have. The list of secondary evidence is quite involved:

If you refer to the I-864 instructions, where did you see that original documents are needed for sponsor citizenship proof and that two forms of proof (birth certificate and passport) are required? A photocopy of one of those documents should be sufficient. Read the instructions carefully. Consider using highlighters of different colors and marking out instructions that don't apply to you so you can focus on what matters.

If the child does not have a CBRA, a certificate of naturalization, or a certificate of citizenship to prove their status, it is a good idea to file an N-600 ($1385). This could be used to prove citizenship for whatever purpose (e.g. a US passport). Otherwise, the evidence needed for a US passport is more involved.

As long as her original intent upon entry into the US was just tourism, she can file AOS while living with you in the US. Otherwise, she will need to leave the US after marriage to you and you both would file for a CR1 visa through a consulate abroad. Then, if successful, she would be able to enter the US as a permanent resident. This process generally takes much longer than adjusting from the US. If she adjusts from US, she will not be able to visit family overseas until she receives her AP or green card. Florida does not allow the AOS receipt notice to be used to get a license or state ID (see here) - only AP, EAD, or GC. Her tourist visa would be invalidated. Immigration paperwork should be typo-free. Re-read and re-check over everything multiple times (on multiple days if possible)! Even minor errors can lead to denial. USCIS rarely refunds fees.

As long as you have some other kind of proof of her full name in some other document, I do not see a big issue that your passport only has her first name.

You're welcome. Bear in mind, this level of travel ease is not always the case outside EU even with a US passport. UK and Canada are anecdotally more interrogative to US passport holders than EU, especially for young, college-aged travelers who may not have strong ties yet to the US.

Congratulations. Regarding your questions, in my answers, I will assume you don't have qualifying citizenship (EU, Schengen, EFTA), which would give you access to member countries like Italy as a non-visitor (and you'd be required to enter on such passport if you had one). In 2025, US citizens don't need a visa for tourism in Europe (see #5): US citizens generally don't need a visa for EU tourism or business for 90 days within the previous 180 days. Schengen requires a US passport have 6 months of validity. Proof of financial condition in EU: Generally, US citizens are not asked in Europe. If one is very young and gives off a suspicion of overstaying, I suppose it's theoretically possible that the officer may ask for ties to the US. I've never been asked for financial proof even when I was very young. Letter from sister: I've never been asked for such letters in the EU even when visiting residents. Sometimes, the officer does not even make eye contact and stamps my passport without even a hello back. Insurance is required for Schengen: They don't check but insurance is required for visitors. Be on the safe side and always travel with travel insurance even for EU countries that in practice don't always bill visitors. One time, my friend needed antibiotics in Rome and the doctor asked for him to go to an ATM and take out some cash. Each EU nation has a different healthcare system so there is not uniformity in rules. To be safe, US citizens should always expect billing for any care received even if a bill is not provided when discharged. Most travel insurance policies only covers emergency and catastrophic healthcare, medical transport (very expensive), and repatriation of remains (I hope not!) Since I travel a lot, I buy an annual policy of GeoBlue Trekker Choice international travel insurance, which can also be used for non-emergency care (e.g. an ear infection). Bad news: in 2026, US citizens will need an ETIAS authorization to visit most of Europe. The European Union will adopt an ESTA-like system for visitors called ETIAS in 2026. Once implemented, Americans must apply for a ETIAS authorization and pay 20 Euros via a website. An ETIAS authorization will be valid for 3 years or the expiration of the passport, whichever comes first. Good news: in October 2025, EU will allow US citizens to use e-gates at passport control: According to this EU press release, EU will allow visitors to use e-gates but American visitors must see an officer on their first entry. Some passengers may be pulled aside for manual inspection. Where do US citizens need a visa? Wikipedia has a great resource to show you what the visa requirements are for US citizens throughout the world. It's generally a good idea to verify the requirements on each country's official immigration website. Enjoy seeing the world on your new US passport.

For each their own. I am not a fan of paper.

US citizen by birth here. I keep a Google spreadsheet. I also forward all of my ticket bookings to TripIt. I also archive all my ticket e-mails. One time, I needed an exact record, so I FOIA'ed it from CBP but it took 6 months to get a response. I received my entries and exits going back to the 1990s. It even includes the lane number and sometimes even the baggage scan details. Different countries share different amounts of information, but the minimum info included is the date and time of inspection. The PDF CBP sent did not include inter-Schengen international crossings for obvious reasons. Sometimes the departure or arrival airport is blacked out. The redaction reason given is usually that the information sharing agreement is not public information, but the date is there so I can work out where I was. I used to ask for an exit stamp in some countries where it mattered, e.g. leaving a country for which I previously had a work visa. Stamping is becoming less common as the years go on. Officers often politely refuse posterity stamps. Traveling around Asia, I am noticing even the e-visa gates do not involve talking to an officer. Some say paper passports are becoming a thing of the past (see this article) and eventually they will be replaced by cards.

Ah, yes -- you're right. I would then print this and show the rep, perhaps highlighting the appropriate item. Printed webpages that have .gov hyperlink can also help. They may need to call a supervisor to verify. People in bureaucratic roles often prefer to handle the most common cases where they have the most efficiency and the least chance of making a mistake. The less common one's case is, the more a clerk will need to actually leave their comfort zone and do something that imposes risk on them (making a mistake) so they may refuse service. In these cases, I either ask them what doubt they have, talk to a peer of theirs, talk to a supervisor, or try a different office. My spouse's I-485 was approved in 8 months but their I-765 was not adjudicated until 14 months after receipt notice so it was moot. This was in 2023 so it may have sped up. You're welcome.

Thank you for reporting back to VJ! Every now and again, someone is brave enough to try something new and we all learn something from it. Now, to wait for a brave person to repeat the experiment. 🍻

Virginia DMV has a list of acceptable documents to prove of legal status. A H-1B extension application receipt notice is not listed on Virginia DMV's list. You can use a receipt notice from I-485 Adjustment of Status according to that same list (page 2, second to last row "pending application for adjustment of status"). If you get married to a US citizen, you would file an I-130 instead of an I-140. According to this page, one may file both I-130 and I-140 petitions concurrently, but I cannot confirm from first-hand experience. According to the Virginia DMV document list, the AOS receipt is on the list of acceptable documents. I would print this list with the virginia.gov hyperlink in the header. If that still doesn't do it, I would try someone else, a different office, or ask them to ask a supervisor. I-765s are taking a long time and a I-765 receipt notice will not work according to this Virginia government FAQ, but you should receive your I-485 receipt notice about the same time so the I-765 receipt notice is moot for the proof you need at the DMV.

That's right. Bear in mind that any sponsor (including the US citizen spouse or their joint sponsor) who moves must file a Sponsor Change of Address (I-865 form) by mail (postmark and preferably certified with return receipt if possible) within 30 days of their move until they are released from their responsibilities as a sponsor. For anyone who is willing to take on the liabilities of a joint sponsor, they are probably in regular contact enough to tell you of their moves. The noncitizen spouse must file an Alien's Change of Address (AR-11) within 10 days of moving until they naturalize. The AR-11 is a much tighter deadline but unlike the I-865, it can be filed online. Yes. Caveat: they are eligible provided that they meet the other eligibility requirements (e.g. physical presence requirement, 3 months of residence in the district of residence at the time the citizenship application is filed, marital union of at least 3 years at time of application if filed under the 3 year rule). Thanks to a post by @OldUser, this means that if one's green card was approved the same week as marriage (or approved less than 90 days after the marriage), 3 year rule applicants would need to wait a bit longer than the usual 3 years minus 90 days. Some green card holders have a fondness for very long multi-month stays outside the US, so they must also be careful of the physical presence test.

In theory you are correct, it's 3x for sponsor a spouse or 5x otherwise as per USCIS instructions. However, in practice, as others have mentioned, people are rarely successful fulfilling the income requirement with assets. $100K-$200K is on the borderline given your household size. People very far from the borderline with millions in US-based liquid assets get RFEs when using assets to demonstrate income. A joint sponsor who is duly employed with the required income will simplify matters significantly.

1. Yes. 2. Yes, the DS-260 instructions say to list social media handles used in the past five years. 3. The guidance for requiring social media posts to be public has only be issued for F, M, and J visas -- see here. Pay attention to news updates as rules can change at any time. 4. Yes, she should list it if it was used in the past five years and the videos were public. If it's deleted, then there is nothing you can do except provide the youtube handle.

CBP officers are assuaged by seeing short visits in one's record. When I was dating my spouse long ago, the visits to the US were never longer than 2 weeks. This may be too short of a visit for most people, however, it resulted in very short questioning after the first few visits. One's record forms a pattern that can lead to more or less questioning depending on the circumstances. Extensions to previous trips longer than a few days (to account for flight cancellations or acute emergencies) may be a yellow flag. Many people on these forums successfully "almost max out" their allowed stay periods. You want to be careful to always leave wiggle room for flight cancellations/acute emergencies (e.g. broken ankles). I trust that you both intend to be truthful as you said. I would have reframed your question to be something along the lines "what are limitations of an ESTA on VWP?" First and foremost, the noncitizen traveler entering on VWP/B1/B2 fully intends to return to their country, they do not work while in US (see definition of work here), and they never violate the duration conditions for VWP/B1/B2. Bear in mind the terms of B1/B2 vs VWP are not equivalent. VWP allows stays up to 90 days. B1/B2 duration can vary -- the general guidance for Japan is a 10 year B1/B2 with visits up to 180 days. According to the Foreign Affairs Manual, the CO has the discretion to issue a B1/B2 with less duration than what is standard for the country or to limit the number of entries. This is probably less common for a low fraud country like Japan. As always, the CBP officer has final discretion to deny admission or admit a person for a shorter duration than what is allowed by their visa or VWP. I expect the most common questioning your wife might be subject to would be her ties to Japan, especially given that there is an I-130 pending in which she is the beneficiary, she has kids in the US, and her intending visits are on the longer side. Does she have a job in Japan, property there, or proof of the urgency of her return? I understand what you mean. Robert Frost's "Two Roads" comes to mind. That said, once your wife enters on a CR-1/IR-1, you both will need to set down deeper roots in the US -- years. Permanent residency can be abandoned if a PR holder spends too much time outside the US in any given period. Also, if OP spends too much time outside the US, there may be greater scrutiny in the future due to cohabitation requirements of marriage PR. Regular business trips are fine.

My spouse and I have Global Entry, but I did not know about the Global Entry app until now. Last time we entered the US, the Global Entry kiosk scanned our faces and the officer immediately said from afar "Welcome <name>". From a Google search about the app, it allows you to skip the kiosk step and just wait for the officer checkpoint after the kiosks. If there is a long line or the kiosks are having issues, one can also speed up their arrival. Are those the main benefits of the app?

A contract is not null and void because of a name change. Otherwise, people would change their names to get out of an onerous contract. I cannot imagine the right to change one's name could be waived by contract. Perhaps a court could bar someone from a name change, but not a private party. If so, it would be the first I have heard of it. An Au Pair contract may have a clause that a visa may only be sponsored if the au pair remains unmarried. Marriage may or may not trigger termination of participation in the agency's program. It depends on the agency. What kind of visa was the au pair on? VisaJourney has an Adjustment of Status guide for couples in the US. Is there a pressing reason why having a driver's license with the new name before AOS is so important? The expiration date of a DL is often the expiration of her visa or sooner. In some states, you can get a REAL ID driver's license with an AOS NOA1. Brazil is very bureaucratic, especially with name changes. A US marriage certificate must be registered with Brazil for it to be recognized by any Brazilian authority, which can be done at a Brazilian consulate (Itamaraty). Any Brazilian consular process must use the consulate assigned to your US state. If you change a name in the US but not in Brazil, this can make round trip air travel to Brazil difficult in the future since she must use a Brazilian passport with her former name to enter Brazil. A name change may be easier at the naturalization stage.

This is very useful information! I did not know this.

Sorry to hear that happened to you. What bad luck! In the future, as long as you have a travel booking outside the country within 14 days, you can apply for a new passport in person at a passport agency. There is a passport agency in Miami and 33 across the US. The DOS rep. at the passport agency returns your documents on the spot after verifying them. I recognize that some people do not travel often or frequently enough for this to be an option.