BLC

you haven’t received your receipt notice (noa1) and the check with the application wasn’t cashed yet? If you applied online, you would have received noa1 online almost instantly (and in the mail a few days later); with a paper submittal, I can’t image it taking longer than two weeks to have the check cashed and receive noa1. Something sounds wrong there. Have you checked your USCIS account to ensure it was actually received?

We are still awaiting approval of our petition, so still at USCIS stage (ugh!). The estimated processing time that USCIS is showing for our case is showing 4 weeks left -lol I take that with a grain of salt, though, but a very hopefully it’s true! I would love to be able to receive that good news with my husband next to me 😃 How far in are you guys?

It is always a tempting thought, but it’s not worth it. Unless it’s honest, and there’s a really big change in circumstance while you’re there (unplanned), it’s really not worth the risk of committing fraud. I don’t think you will try AOS route, but just in case you (or someone reading this) ever do get tempted at the thought of taking that route, because you’re hating that time apart and thinking of the expenses during the wait …just look at it this way—if you did try AOS and it was “planned”, you would have to overcome USCIS being extra suspicious of the reasoning behind it. And then you would be stressing over a possible denial. If you did get a denial, just imagine how long you’d be apart after that and how expensive it would be to maintain a marriage long distance (or in your situation, to try to convince a military spouse to move to a different country) 12-18 months of this is way better than a lifetime of it. Like you said, we all are in the same boat ..some of us with different circumstances. But it equally sucks for all of us- no one wants to be away from the person they chose to spend life with. But, it’s comforting to just remember that almost everyone here has been through it, or is going through it (and there’s a ton more that never even come on this site!)

We filed in July 2022. I have always heard that too, to stay out of the country 2x as long as your last visit; but we have done it before where he has visited for a month, and then returned one month later for an additional month, and we have been fine. I think if it happens every now and then, it’s probably not a big deal if someone does have a long history of following all the ESTA rules. I always remind my husband, just in case they are going to deny entry, to just politely ask to withdraw his request to enter the country so he doesn’t get a denial on his record (of course it’s all something that can still be worked out if that ever happens, but of course better to avoid it, if possible). Dublin is definitely a good choice! They’ve always been really nice there (JFK staff have been, too). It’s just such a piece of mind to be able to tell your spouse “we are all good!” before boarding that long haul; and then don’t have to have that worry in the back of your mind for that long flight.

My husband is a UK citizen, I am US citizen, and we have our ir1 petition in process (we are toward the end of the USCIS stage). He has visited 2x on his ESTA since and has had no issues thus far (he’s set to visit again tmrw). He has also renewed his ESTA during this processing time with no issue. He visits for one month at a time and CBP has not since even asked him about the visa petition or to see any proof of ties to the UK (he brings them each time, just in case, though) —they just asked him the same one or two normal questions like “why are you coming to the US” “how long is your visit”. He’s traveled through CBP at JFK airport and preclearance in Dublin. Hopefully I can report back with the same good news after he travels tomorrow.

Not too easy if you’re lower middle class, so it would be a valid concern. Covering a family on an employer sponsored health plan can easily wipe out someone’s entire paycheck. Most employers only partially cover the premiums for their employees, not their families, that comes at the employees expense.

So you are saying you want to expedite because you’re unemployed and have no one supporting you financially; and wondering if that alone is a valid reason?

Yes, of course you can use a typed document. You’re reading the word ‘written’ out of its context. Written is referring to the alphabet of the native language, not physically writing something onto a piece of paper. And the ‘text or word processing document’ part is just referring to file type, i.e make sure it’s in the proper format, specifically a pdf.

You don’t need to even look at the stamp, you can just pull the I-94 travel record online and it will provide entry and validity dates. It’s free and provides instant results.

If you do that, you will likely be waiting another 1.5-2 years for your spouse to enter the US. As others have stated, you would be withdrawing your k1 and filing a completely new petition for cr1. Definitely a terrible idea if your only concern is speed.

No problem! Some of this software really doesn’t make it obvious, though, as I have experienced trying to use one that just would not allow you to move forward without spouse ITIN/SSN. So if someone only tried with one of those programs, they would just assume e-file was impossible. TaxSlayer was one that gave me issues - their customer support actually thought you couldn’t file at all (even on paper) having a spouse without a SSN/ITIN. Scary to know the knowledge base of some of the staff at these places lol.

OLT and TaxAct (I am sure there are others, too, but that’s what I generally use). TaxSlayer, does seem to give some trouble; but, 2021 was my last time using that software, so they may have fixed that issue since. edit: TaxAct is the program I used this year to file my own taxes personally (MFS, no ITIN). Last year I used OLT (same filing status). Both returns accepted and processed.

Yes you can, I file electronically all the time.

You only need an ITIN if you want to use Married filing jointly. If you do married filing separately, though, you do not need an ITIN.

Why would you need to file single for 2022 since your spouse already has ITIN? This is just what I would do — I would file 2022 asap via e-file, and if it processes quickly enough, I’d use those and also provide all documentation that you filed 2021 and paperwork from the IRS showing that it’s in process still, and then I would also provide 2020 and 2019, that way they would have 3 completed tax years, plus can see you did file 2021. Again, this is just the most rational thing I can think of to do in this situation, but others may have a better idea.