KM & ST

Just now, Mike E said:

I don’t know what the automobile insurer’s requirements on evidence of residency are, if there are any.  But the dealer is unlikely to let her drive the car off the lot without evidence of an owner’s auto insurance policy. Since she can renew her MA state drivers license, I would focus more on the problem of getting auto insurance, and less on MA state residency 
 

We talked to an insurance company and they had no problem providing the insurance

On a related note, does anyone know what the tax implications are of living in a state for 1 week?

2 minutes ago, Mike E said:

Whether you will be able to buy a car in Massachusetts without an insurance card and a state of Massachusetts drivers license depends on the laws of the state of Massachusetts.  When buying a car from a dealer I’ve always been required to present a drivers license and an automobile insurance card from that state.  This has been true of Illinois, California, and Colorado.  

My wife is able to renew her previous MA drivers license online since it only recently expired. So am I understanding correctly that what you're saying is that you assume she will have to do that and establish "permanent" address at her mom's house to buy the car/insurance?

Okay so both my US wife and I are thoroughly confused about how the system for establishing residence in a state works in the US, and how often you are supposed to do this.

Take our upcoming scenario:

1. We fly from Denmark to Massachusetts on April 1, at which point I immigrate to the US. 

2. We visit my mother-in-law in Massachusetts for a week.

3. We buy a car in Massachusetts while visiting there (technically we are arranging to buy it before we arrive).

4. We then drive that car to a friend's house in Texas, which will become our permanent residence when we get there (and where I will have my Green Card sent) until we find a house of our own.

QUESTION:

In order to buy the car and get it insured for the road trip to Texas, will we need to establish permanent residence in Massachusetts for a week, and then establish a new permanent residence again in Texas when we arrive a week or so later?

Any input is greatly appreciated since we are thoroughly confused.

Thanks a lot for the feedback everyone!

Thank you so much for the response!

I definitely think I do get access to those forms from the broker.

I just am not sure how the IRS calculates gains/losses when the stock was purchased before becoming a US resident. If anyone has been able to find a reference or has experience with this please share :)

Hi all. I have what I thought was a fairly straight forward question that I simply cannot find an answer to.

I am currently in Denmark but moving to the US in April. I currently own a handful of stocks. With the way the stock market has been behaving lately, these investments are all sitting at net losses.

My hope was that they would get near break even before immigrating, so I could just get rid of them and move with a clean slate. However, that is now looking highly unlikely.

My question is: Does anyone know (or can link to a resource on) how the US/IRS treats loss-giving stocks that were owned before moving to the country? Would they be treated as having the original cost basis, the current cost basis on the date of immigration, or something else? If anyone has any info to share at all (do’s or don’ts) that would be highly appreciated!

 

I have a question for those of you already in the States. To get started looking for apartments, we will be living in a month-long AirBnB when we first arrive in Texas from overseas. For a plethora of reasons, we would like to establish official residence status in TX while living in the AirBnB immediately, since it might take a month or two to find the right apartment. Does anyone know how to establish this residence when effectively living in temporary housing? The utility bills etc. for an AirBnB obviously wont have our names on it. And I am unsure whether I can set up bank accounts and get a drivers license etc. based on a temporary address. Any tips on the fastest way to get properly registered as a resident?

1 hour ago, tunuki said:

You are May right? So hopefully the next batch includes you guys! Maybe then EB visas will start getting scheduled too. 

Indeed! Fingers crossed.

I have seen 2 cases in March get booked, and also 2 cases in March that are not yet booked. So it should be pretty accurate that invites are currently up to around the very beginning of March DQ in this batch.

2 minutes ago, tunuki said:

 I thought I saw an IR1 case with DQ March, although not sure where cause I can't find it?

Yeah since my post I have seen multiple examples from March!

The latest DQ I have seen scheduled for CR1/IR1 interview is now January 2021. Anyone here seen any more recent ones? 

K-1 meanwhile seems to be fully back up to speed.

4 minutes ago, Scandi said:

Odd that DOS hasn't updated this change on their website. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/family-immigration/nonimmigrant-visa-for-a-fiance-k-1.html

 

• Police certificates from your present country of residence and all countries where you have lived for six months or more since age 16 (Police certificates are also required for accompanying children age 16 or older)

 

I am sorry - I was not aware that there was a difference between K and CR/IR regarding this requirement? 
From the text you linked it certainly seems like it.

I was referring to the requirements for CR/IR:

26 minutes ago, Scandi said:

When I went through the K-1 process in 2016 you needed police clearance documents for each country you have lived in for 6 months or longer since you turned 16. Not 1 year. Did that change in recent years? 

Yeah. Just countries where you lived for at least 1 yeah. I lived in Australia for 11.5 months and did not need a certificate.

2 minutes ago, tunuki said:

Well because in the State Departments statements, they mentioned that opening of consular offices will depend on US and local recommendations and regulations. Sweden will open on 29th, but I guess the embassy could still say that the travel ban is in effect and US regulations don't require us to open too hastily. Maybe with that also disappearing it may let them resume closer to normal operations. 

I guess it might all just be hope 😀😅

The reasoning makes sense - fingers crossed!

18 minutes ago, tunuki said:

Hope this has an effect on the number of interviews being scheduled

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/09/20/politics/biden-administration-international-travel-restrictions/index.html

Not that I don't hope so too, but I am not sure why that would be the case. Am I missing the connection?

19 minutes ago, ImpatientNija said:

We DQ'ed in March and I've been in a constant state of stress since at least August since we've got no news from Embassy or NVC. So thanks so much for sharing guys, really reassuring to see that other people are going through the same! And great to at least know that people who DQ'ed in October/November are finally getting interviews.

 

Anyone know how often the embassy schedule interviews for I130/IR1-applicants (e.g once a month)?

I can certainly relate to that feeling!

The embassy seems to schedule once a month. Usually between the ~15th and 21st ish of the month or so.

6 hours ago, tunuki said:

 

I think you should keep spirits up, its an unfortunate situation tbh, but unless you can find a reason expedite (working in medical fields) there is little we can do. Best of luck and hope you get an interview in the November batch!

We'll certainly do our best!

5 hours ago, tunuki said:

Wow, did not know that. Doesn't effect me personally as I am employment based and looking grim for anytime this year anyway, but I am very surprised K-visas are getting prioritized over CR1/IR1. Maybe it is because K is technically a NIV and CR1/IR1 are IVs, they want to say that they have been issuing NIV as well as IV? Can't think of a reason tbh.

 

In any case I hope the removal of restrictions in Sweden from Sep 29 lets them justify more interview slots. That and the recent update that they can schedule F, M, and academic J without the need for in person interviews in some cases will help speed up the process.

A group of K-applicants got together and launched a class action lawsuit against the State Department for prioritizing IVs during pandemic, so they changed course and have been focusing on Ks for several months. Not sure why did decided to get the Ks so far ahead of IVs instead of just catching up though. Who knows.

I am also crossing my fingers the end of Sept Covid restriction cutoff in Sweden makes a difference! But I dont feel confident!

 

9 minutes ago, Missing My Fiance said:

@KM & ST How did you know they are scheduling Fiancé’s from April/May? Is there a website with this information on it? I’ve searched but can’t find any information. Swedish embassy received my fiancé’s paperwork in July. Thanks for any help. 

Unfortunately they (not just Sweden but all the embassies) have declined to share this information publicly. So the months they are currently processing is gleaned from talking to lots of people in the queue. I made a spreadsheet a while back that compiled all the cases I could get information on in order to calculate a timeline. Its sort of anecdotal, but appears accurate.

16 minutes ago, tunuki said:

Did I misunderstand? So October people for IR1 DQ'ed in November are scheduled for interviews, but I thought K-visas from April were also getting interviews? Are K visas supposed to be prioritized over IR1?

You are not misunderstanding, no.

Currently, the timeline for K visas is MUCH shorter than for marriage (CR/IR) visas.

Right now they are scheduling:

Fiancés from April/May
Spouses from October/November

It only applies to people who are married, not fiancés. It is the date all paperwork got approved at NVC.

Big (relatively speaking) batch of invites seems to have gone out today for invites in October. Mostly people with DQ in October-November 2020 getting invited. How many ppl here have DQ dates after November 2020?

16 hours ago, Chancy said:

 

Not quite DQ to IL, but could be an indicator -- https://www.visajourney.com/timeline/irstats.php

 

Thanks. Yeah I did see that overview, but like you said I'm trying to get a little more specific if possible

Hi!

Is it possible for some of you guys to share the (approximate) current wait time for CR1/IR1 interviews at your embassies, from the moment a case becomes DQ at the NVC until the interview is scheduled?

I am trying to get some data on how our embassy (Sweden) compares to other embassies.

The DQ to Interview wait in Sweden is currently more than 13 months.