Gabriel5454

Check that final link again (i.e. https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/nonresident-spouse). From there, Keep in mind, I am not a tax professional, just a random stranger on the internet. So feel free to do your own due diligence. But this is my understanding of the situation.

This is inaccurate. As per https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/substantial-presence-test, when calculating the number of days in the US for the substantial presence test, you do not count the days you are an "exempt individual". This includes a few categories of temporary visitors, in particular: A student temporarily present in the U.S. under an "F," "J," "M," or "Q" visa, who substantially complies with the requirements of the visa. As a result most foreign students in the US are not residents for tax purposes. This has important tax implications since they often are not eligible for the same tax benefits as those classified as "residents" for tax purposes (which includes, not is not limited to, US citizens and permanent residents) and hence often pay higher rates of taxes. OP, I suggest you review https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/determining-an-individuals-tax-residency-status. Quoting from that page, If you don't meet either of those two tests, then the foreign spouse may have to submit the election to be treated as a resident for tax purposes. For more info see https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/nonresident-spouse

This link also states that if you are not adopting using the Hague process, that "If you are adopting from a Hague Convention country, certain restrictions apply that may prevent your child from immigrating to the United States using this process. Please fully research the adoption laws of the country you hope to adopt from before beginning the process." It cannot hurt to consult with a qualified lawyer about your situation to avoid any surprises in the future.

I was in a similar situation with my spouse (PhD student with living stipend, over the minimum threshold but not by much). At the NVC stage I didn't receive any message about my income being too low. However at the interview the consular decided we needed a joint sponsor. I think it really depends on your individual circumstances and what side of the bed the consular officer got out of in the morning. If you already have a joint sponsor lined up, that's great. As others have suggested you don't need to do anything until the interview, at which point if they want a joint sponsor they will tell you and it will be easy to upload the documents online and get approved. After finding a joint sponsor and uploading the documents it took a couple days for us to get an approval, so it was not much more time at all.

The I-130 can be filed now, with the US citizen sponsor living abroad. Once a visa becomes available, 3-4 years later, the petitioner will have to show intent to establish domicile in the US in order to qualify as the sponsor for the I-864. So yes, you are correct that the sponsor must have domicile in the US, but this is not required to file a I-130. One US embassy explains it very well here and I am sure there is similar information posted on the relevant embassy website.

What the other posters have all said sounds correct in your circumstances. However, if you want to come to the US, your father can still petition you. The first step would be to file an I-130 petition (one for you, one for your brother). See, for example: https://www.boundless.com/blog/average-processing-time-unmarried-children-over-21/

Hi Techniix, I don't post here a lot but your post was extremely unsettling for me personally and I wanted to offer my sympathy and suggestions. 1.). You shouldn't panic because your wife's status is not related to your possession of the physical green card. As long as she properly filed the I-751 and it is still pending, your wife is in status. The only issue is that you do not have evidence of this status and cannot (or should not) travel outside the US without the physical green card (the extension letter is not sufficient by itself). However for most practical purposes, inside the US, a state ID is sufficient. And as others have mentioned, your wife has the right to get a temporary one year I-551 stamp at a USCIS office. Google Infopass appointment to learn more about how to make this appoint. Also see: https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/temporary-i-551-stamps-and-mrivs 2.). Your wife's green card was not her property. It was property of the federal government, and destruction of federal property by an agent of the state is a serious crime. You can see, e.g., here: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1597. If you want to pursue this issue further, you can file a police report stating what happened. You can also seek a lawyer and get a consultation. To be clear, this is not an immigration issue but a criminal issue, and you do not need to seek an "immigrant" lawyer just because your wife is a permanent resident. She has the same basic rights as any citizen, with the obvious exceptions (like the right to vote). After filling a police report and consulting with a lawyer, you can file a formal complaint with your state's DMV. Every state is different but if you Google you can quickly find how they process such complaints. For example, in Texas the page looks like this: https://www.dps.texas.gov/section/office-inspector-general This process may take you some time and it is up to you how far you want to pursue the issue, but one can imagine how this DMV has treated other immigrants before you (and will treat others after you). Following through on this issue in the best case will force them to train their employees properly, and at the very least not break federal law. Best wishes.

As others have correctly pointed out, he is not allowed to work (even remotely) while here on ESTA/VWP status. However, you should know that unauthorized work is automatically forgiven for spouses of US citizens. The much bigger issue is working while in the US and not being honest about working.