ZRomper

1 hour ago, irertwert said:

I see exactly the same issue right now.

Won't effect you. Just make sure you've done it the first time. You can always re-upload things you see missing.

25 minutes ago, uzairmf said:

I'm getting the same issue. What worked for you? Please help.

Nothing really. I reloaded some that were shown as missing. All the files are actually on their computer systems already. The most important thing I did that my wife saw 5 people get sent home with was a missing IRS transcript. That was the most important thing for us. 

To close the topic, I called Avis and Budget and they both confirmed that my wife would need a CC with her name on it.
Thanks everyone who posted here.

11 minutes ago, Mike E said:

And cannot fedex it?

 

I renew my DL online, so this is never an issue for me. In the event my DL has expired while abroad and the new one is not in hand, I would take a ride share home from the airport, unless the online renewal permits me to drive with receipt.

 

 I’ve contributed all I can, and I don’t wish to argue or bicker, so I won’t post more in this thread. 

Thanks for the help! You're right, i will get it fedexed, at least i'll try. The reason is not for my lack of trying, i don't have the best relationship with my sister to put it mildly. Simply getting my tax transcripts photos took a week and a half to get. 😊

But at least I have something to go on now.

57 minutes ago, Mike E said:

The entire point of this exercise was to get her a credit card that has her name on it.

 

If mom cannot bring a credit card to the airport or cannot fedex it to your physical address in the U.S. (the latter requiring you to use ride share for a day), then you are back to:

 

 

So you might as well try it, and have mom bring / send the credit card as plan B. Plan C is you get a drivers license. I am surprised the embassy accepted your domicile claims without a U.S. state ID or state DL. 

1. My mom is not in the US, it's my sister that is and we're flying to a state far away from her, so she cannot bring it.

2. I can't get a driver's license until I'm back in the US and this isn't instant.
3. My domicile acceptance was based on the fact that I have an address in the US, I have a well paying job and sent a lot of money to my US bank account. This is what they care about, plus I have my US passport. You can travel overseas for 2 weeks and your DL can expire, doesn't mean you're not domiciled in the US anymore.

I'll try calling a few rental companies and ask them.

12 hours ago, Mike E said:

You can add her as an authorized user from Chase’s website or its app.

Calling might lead to denial as more questions get asked, and possibly canceling your account. 

 

1 hour ago, top_secret said:

 

Yep.  It didn't get my account canceled but I did have a Citi phone rep tell me it was absolutely impossible to add an authorized user without a social security number.  She said it couldn't be done.  So I hung up, went on citi.com and two minutes later successfully added my wife as an authorized user with nothing more than a name and a birth date..

 

Thank you both for the great suggestion! I was able to quickly add her to my CC through Chase portal via Add Authorized User. They just asked for name and DOB and I selected the address on file.

Question: It said they'll mail a new card with her name on it. I'm not in the US atm however and it's my sister's house address. Will it still be ok to use my card at the car rental? I think so, because they go by what's in the system and not what's on the card per say, because she's already added. I'll also have a statement from the bank with me showing both our names.

What do you think?

3 hours ago, Mike E said:

I did this once 40 years ago. I would not recommend assuming it will work.

 

IME, Chase let’s you add authorized users who do not have SSNs. I did this for my fiancee years before she moved to the U.S.  

 

Wow, thanks for the info. I'll give them a call and let you know what they say.

This might sound weird but I'm sure someone has run into this before.

So, I lived outside the US for the past 10 years. My US driver's license has expired a long time ago. I had a driver's license from Belarus which expired on June 20th, 2023. My wife has an active Belarus driver's license which is international and is accepted in the state we're moving to.

I have a credit card from Chase but no driver's license (I'll have to get a permit/license/test once we move) while my wife does have an international driver's license but no credit card...

I saw that Budget for instance has a non-licensed renter form, where you add another driver as a driver to the car you're renting while not driving it yourself using your credit card.

Has anyone had any experience with something like this??

This will put us in quiet a bind to be stuck without a car when we just arrive...

On 7/28/2023 at 9:45 AM, Geraldin said:

did you find anything in poland? we need to translate a large document from polish into english for uscis.

I went with Ekvitas, a large translation company in Belarus. You can order translations and perhaps someone can pass it on to a bus driver to Poland. That's what we did and got all translations for like $50.

Was accepted with no issue by the Embassy.

Warsaw embassy is fast! Got an SMS today that our visas are ready to pick up today. Will pick them up tomorrow.  🥳🥳🥳

20 hours ago, BenNomad said:

Congratulations to you and your family! Thank you so much for those great tips!!

 

I was planning to give my wife a copy of my tax transcript to take to the interview (I downloaded it from the IRS after getting DQ) but sounds like I could go ahead and upload it to the CEAC site now, even though no one at this point has asked for it. Is there any reason not to upload it now, months before the interview?

You can, definitely. No harm in uploading and submitting now once the interview is scheduled.

Btw, just got an SMS that our visas are ready to pick up today. Will pick them up tomorrow. That was super fast! 🥳🥳🥳

20 hours ago, olaade said:

I'm struggling with the ITIN process for my husband. How badly will it hurt our case if I file as single? Filing jointly has been a struggle. It it necessary to file as married?

I had this exact issue a while ago. This is what you do, like CrazyCat said, you file as Married filing separately and for SSN you put down "NRA" - Non Resident Alien.

Now the SSN part on your taxes will not be accepted if you put down all zeroes or whatnot. "NRA" is the official abbreviation you need to use according to the IRS ().

In fact I filed Single just like you thought and later when I found that this is not correct, I simply went back and filed amendments to correct the years I needed to fix.

I used TaxAct as it has excellent support for this and they keep everything online with options to amend at any time. Very convenient.

IRS says this:
 

Quote

Select this filing status by checking the “Married filing separately” box on the Filing Status line at the top of Form 1040 or 1040-SR. Enter your spouse's full name and SSN or ITIN in the entry space at the bottom of the Filing Status section. If your spouse doesn't have and isn't required to have an SSN or ITIN, enter “NRA” in the space for your spouse's SSN. Use the Married filing separately column of the Tax Table, or Section C of the Tax Computation Worksheet, to figure your tax.

2022 Publication 17 (irs.gov)

Since I did this and we're going to travel to the US next month, I will file amended returns for 3 years once my wife and kids gets their SSNs and fill them in and get my tax returns for 3 years.

Posted my experience at the embassy here: 

18 minutes ago, Ineska said:

Wooo hooooo! Congrats!!! And thank you for sharing your journey and keeping track of others’ progress- it‘s been so helpful to know what to expect!  🙂

Everyone welcome and a huge thanks to the amazing community here. It's reading comments on this board that answered some very important questions for me without which we'd be lost today!

18 hours ago, AhmadHamouda said:

@ZRomper Goodluck with the interviews tomorrow! Hope you get approved right away and we celebrate!  @mochon hope you had a nice and smooth interview and got approved also!

Thank you so much!!!

They got approved!! The interview went well, I will post details a little later, as there are some interesting points to note. Off to celebrate 🤣🤣🤣😅😅🥳🥳🥳

8 hours ago, anannabanana said:

I also received my interview date on July 19 for 09/08  (September 8 ) - in Frankfurt.

 

Can I check if anyone knows, the only medical exam slot in Germany left is on September 6th, the clinic says it's ok, because they can send the results to NVC after my interview.... But I'm worried.. anyone got any advice?

Can I do it in another country?

I'd search here or call the embassy to ask.

Here in Warsaw, we scheduled our medical a month ahead and my wife's doctor told my wife it takes him at least 3 days to get everything sent to embassy if there is no need for any retests. I watched a YT video (link below) where a girl had a situation similar to this. They didn't approve her visa the first time, but they gave her a yellow slip b/c they didn't have the medical results yet. I mean you could be lucky, and they really will make it within 2 days, but more likely than not, they'll give you a yellow slip that lets you come back and just give them your passport for visa processing when they finally get the medical docs.
Another possibility is calling the embassy to reschedule the interview. This would be safest if you decide you really want to get the visa on the first try.

YT video (in Russian): /watch?v=7iJyFoog1U8

On 7/17/2023 at 5:45 PM, stirling said:

Received the interview date this morning. 2023-07-17 for 2023-09-12

Congrats!! 

@Crazy CatThank you for the kind words!! It means a lot.

I'll sign it and upload a signed copy to CEAC and hope for the best. I can't download it from IRS b/c I can't access my online account, there's an error and i'd need to travel back to the US to get it.

Another really strong piece of evidence I have is the bank statement showing the exact same amount I paid that is on my Tax Return copy. I also printed my social security benefits statement that shows how much I earned during 2022, 2021 and 2020.

Hi everyone,

Going nuts trying to figure out what to do in my situation.

My wife is scheduled for an interview in Warsaw, PL next week on Friday, the 21st.

I sent in a e-copy of my taxes for years 2020,2021,2022 to CEAC and it was approved a long time ago.

However, embassies have their own interpretation of rules from what I read.

The E-copy which is stamped as a watermark on my tax return copies, does not have my signature on them. Should I perhaps sign it (i don't see the harm since it is my tax return and my signature) and upload it to CEAC just in case it comes up during the interview? 

Regarding tax transcripts. I of course ordered a copy a long time ago and my sister in the US got it. I don't have the best relations with her to put it mildly, but she made photos of the 3 envelopes, but 2 years are repeating, she says they sent 2020 twice and 2021. It's missing the most important transcript for 2022...

I had a feeling this would happen and ordered another copy of all 3 about a week and a half ago, praying it might get there in time.

I have all my 1040-NEC letters, bank statements for 12 months and a contract for the company I work for.

2 hours ago, Troy B said:

@ZRomper timeline for @Micam is showing:

Packet 3 Received :	2023-06-19  (thinking this is their IL received date)
Interview Date :	2023-08-30

So I finally got an answer from the Warsaw Embassy, they managed to include an answer meant for a different person right below mine, but never mind. Here's what they say:

 

Quote

Dear Sir,

Thank you for your correspondence. Every document that has been issued in languages different than Polish or English needs to be translated into English by a certified translator. Certified means that the person needs to hold the official state document stating his proficiency in translation (a stamp/signature of the translator is on the translated document then). No translations done by family members/petitioners are accepted at post.

The information on our webpage is accurate and please kindly follow this instruction.

So, it's kinda what I expected. They still haven't answered what the heck is a state document and how they check it, unless it's a notarized translation which it's not.

Also, not clear about "a stamp/signature", it the `/` supposed to be an OR or an AND. In any case I'll do an "official" translation.

Another question then is a wet signature required?

I see a lot of people here using electronic services, meaning they only get a PDF like @BenNomad mentions.

Does anyone have experience with that?

10 hours ago, ZRomper said:

Thanks. I'm not in the US but in Warsaw with my family at the moment. I'll get a translator here. However, there's no requirement for any stamps of any sort. And the above, while looking pleasing to the eye, doesn't mean a whole lot. Just about any business can get a stamp and place it on a document. 

 

I have about 85% of documents translated by a Belarusian translation firm, but without the stamps. Which should be fine, the rest I'll do here.

 

Btw, how much does the above company charge for a page of translation?

Got it, thanks! This is what gets me. The NVC accepted and approved all of my translations as did USCIS. The only requirement for a translation is that it has a clause at the bottom that states you're proficient in the languages translated and that you swear you did a true job. But it's ONLY the Warsaw embassy that invents this "certified translator" thing and then can't even answer for 3 days. 

I have a LOT of documents b/c it's for my wife and my adopted daughter. So, I'd be looking at 1000-1500$ easy. Thankfully the prices in Poland are a lot less for translations. You can get away with 5-10$ per page.

9 hours ago, BenNomad said:

I sent all my Russian-language documents to a translation service in the U.S. and they do a very professional job, and very quickly if you pay a little extra. I'm attaching the certification page that they sent with one of the translations. I think that's what the Embassy is looking for. 

 

You can see their contact on the image I'm uploading. They specialize in Russian, Belorussian, Ukranian, etc. 

Thanks. I'm not in the US but in Warsaw with my family at the moment. I'll get a translator here. However, there's no requirement for any stamps of any sort. And the above, while looking pleasing to the eye, doesn't mean a whole lot. Just about any business can get a stamp and place it on a document. 

I have about 85% of documents translated by a Belarusian translation firm, but without the stamps. Which should be fine, the rest I'll do here.

Btw, how much does the above company charge for a page of translation?

11 minutes ago, Evan757 said:

If I recall correctly, certified translators are accredited by the Embassy and have to pass specific certification exams. There should be services in Warsaw that provide this. You might be able to "certify it" yourself but personally I err on the side of caution in this process.

He man on the phone specifically said that it can be any "professional" translator and that notarization is not required.  I'm familiar with state certified translators. For instance, in Belarus just like in Poland there's a special list of "state certified translators" in every major city who are the only ones allowed to have their translations certified by a notary. But this is not a requirement here. They do not recommend any particular one and just say "It should be a professional service". Which is saying nothing.

My wife and I went to a translation bureau in Belarus and had most of the documents translated before she left. However, it has no stamps on it. This is why I'd like to know if a stamp is required (it certainly isn't, I'm 99.9% sure) and if it is, how do they verify a private firm's stamp as being valid? Any small company here can buy a rubber stamp of business, it doesn't mean anything though.

Let's see what they say, I'll go by that.