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Contact both senators and your congressman. USCIS will give them a non-answer but it will force it to be looked at. Feel free to stagger inquiries with Congress-critters and senators so that it keeps annoying them. You’re outside of the 17 month 80% window, but USCIS doesn’t consider something outside of normal processing times until 90% are passed. If you don’t hear back by December file a writ. The congressional inquiries will help you with this as it will show the court/US attorney that you have been trying to find a resolution. I don’t see any benefit in inquiring with them directly even when it’s taken so long. They have no accountability outside Congress or the courts and while I don’t mind giving them the benefit of the doubt up to two years, it’s a well known strategy within the federal space that agencies never deny things they don’t want to approve but is in a grey area, as that gives a right of appeal. They just delay until you give up. Bringing in outside accountability and they actually take action.

Yah: the substantial presence rule plus MFJ might screw over the foreign earned income exclusion. Or even his wife being there more than 30 days. Filing is definitely required but this falls into complex tax situation even within the already complex expat tax realm. I’m pretty decent with taxes but this type of stuff would need a CPA who is familiar with people living between two countries. Like you said, hopefully OP has one, but you’d be surprised the things people don’t tell their accountants until the IRS or a regulator comes knocking.

Correct, and it’d trigger tax repercussions. But ESTA does give the right to request this, even if CBP can say no at any time. 30 days in/60 out wouldn’t likely trigger questions since it’s less than half the year. You’d still have to be careful on tax treatment even of that, though.

Some POEs it has no benefits as the officers don’t know it exists and make you do the kiosk scan. Others like IAD have dedicated GE app lines. I mainly enter through MIA where the wait at the kiosk is 0-5 seconds so the app would take longer for me. The main thing is if your spouse is from a GE eligible country, it’s useful to have them enroll. From there they can decide app or kiosk. MPC app definitely is beneficial for returning ESTA visitors without GE, but is a different program and there’s less pre-vetting so more opportunity for secondary.

The current median (50th percentile) is 14.5 months. 80th percentile is 17 months. The 67.5 counts I-130s not filed in service centers, which isn’t applicable to IR-1/CR-1

OP — to try to answer your original question and things you’ve mentioned since: —She can say she’s visiting her kids. That’s a 100% valid use of ESTA. — It’ll likely have to be less than 60 on/60 off; the recommendation is double the time outside the U.S. as inside. — Would recommend getting global entry if she doesn’t have it already. It cuts down on questions as she’d be pre-vetted. Normally they don’t even ask purpose of visit. —There’s no need to frame your question any way; just have her answer in short sentences that are factual. There’s no requirement to volunteer more information than asked. —If there’s a language difficulty that requires translation CBP has translators they can call People here get a bit angsty when they see people trying to avoid the rules, which is not what you’re doing, but a lot of people who try to bend the rules ask similar questions, which is the reason for some of the responses you’ve received were a bit stronger in wording. The one thing worth mentioning on the I-130: you can postpone it at NVC indefinitely so it goes to the consulate when you’re ready, but you need to pay the fee in the first year and then log into CEAC at least once a year afterwards. It’s recommended to also send them an email a least once a year so there’s a paper trail. Other thing to note is the substantial presence test and if that has any tax implications for you all.

You can file an I-130 and let it sit at NVC indefinitely. It makes a ton of sense in OP’s circumstances. They don’t want to move to the U.S., but realize they will eventually likely want to reunite with their kids. He’s filing the I-130 now so that when the time might come in the future, it takes 3-6 months for his wife to move instead of 18-24. It’s perfectly legal and a great strategy in this case.

There’s no lying or redundancy here — they’ve filed an I-130, which is a form you can file at any time for a relative you wish to sponsor in the future. It has no expiration date and can be kept alive indefinitely at NVC until such a time as OP and his spouse are ready to get an immigrant visa. This is incredibly smart to do since fees and speed of processing can change. There is no fraud and no lying. OP is asking about how to manages frequent ESTA entries as a spouse with a pending I-130 and before a visa has been issued. OP — so long as she’s on ESTA she can visit under the same terms as B1/B2. Entry is at discretion. It’s recommend to spend double the time outside the U.S. as inside, so that’d look like 30-45 day trips then 60-90 day returns.

Yeah, I was confused on that too. My guess was that since AOS is presented as changing class of admission from one thing to another where there’s an available visa, they got confused on the terminology. If it’s actually AOS, filing a new case is almost certainly better since it’s quicker than I-290B. For removal of conditions I’d say the same, but for the reason that screwing around for a year waiting to see if they let you interview on the old petition isn’t a good idea in the current environment.

There’s also a fairly strong likelihood that adjudicating the I-290B takes longer than filing a new case since they’re adjudicating AOS from January now.

The transcript won’t be available until around December or January if I had to guess. They’re still processing April paper 1040s and the processing time for a return starts the date listed on the ITIN letter. ITIN takes 2 months so assuming the filing was recent that’d be September. 3-4 month backlog for paper 1040 processing. You’re looking end of year/new year for a transcript to be generated. OP — if you’ve filed the return you can scan a copy of it and all W-2s/1099s while you wait for the IRS to process.

Spousal visa is the best visa there is. Apply for jobs without sponsorship once your spouse is within the window.

The intending immigrant isn’t an LPR until CBP stamps the passport and gives them a class of admission. IR-1/CR-1, like any visa, only confer the right to ask for admission. It’s worth making this distinction since if you don’t meet the requirements of the class of admission they can deny entry — though in the case of family reunification visas this only practically applies to Canadians wanting a green card to work/visit while still residing in Canada. Though like I said above, there’s really no reason not to ask about it.

The worst they can do is say no and admit you as CR-1 at that point. There are practically zero denials of entry for people on family reunification visas except at the Canadian border if the intending immigrant makes it clear they don’t plan on actually moving to the U.S. and even that is pretty rare. Most CBP officers are reasonable people. Some are jerks — I find DFW ones to be particularly short with you — but even in the unlikely event that they get mad because you asked, it won’t have any impact on you other than potentially having to file I-90 for free with USCIS, which isn’t any different a place than you were in before asking.

I guess I can add https://egov.uscis.gov/processing-times/ to my list of government sponsored random number generators. Current average is 14-17 months with 14.5 being the newest cases currently approved.

What country? That matters. Also any criminal issues on your part or the part oh the beneficiary?

If you’re a straightforward case (i.e. no legal issues related to crimes or immigration and have evidence of the relationship being real) you should be able to DIY it. That being said if you have the funds and value it, hiring a lawyer doesn’t hurt. Depends on what you place more value on and risk tolerance. We were a straightforward case and I’m somewhat obsessive over details, so we saved the money and didn’t use a lawyer. Others here used a lawyer because they had the means and it gave them comfort. Ultimately it’s your call. If it’s a complicated case always involve a lawyer.

Yes. Yes. Yes. While USCIS theoretically reviews all admissions and compares dates before issuing the GC, if CBP admits as CR-1, they will sometimes screw it up and issue a 2 year green card (not always.) In many (probably most) cases they correct it, but I see no benefit in giving then the chance to screw it up. I’ve never seen a case on here or IRL where they’ve screwed up if you ask CBP nicely to change admission class to IR-1 after 2 years. Some POE are stricter on not doing it than others, but it costs you nothing to ask them kindly.

A lot to unpack here: 1) There is no 90 day rule for USCIS. It’s guidance in the Foreign Affairs Manuel (FAM) for consular officials on when to assume misrepresentation in cases that they also need to be involved in, which these days mainly deals with people who entered the country without presenting themselves for inspection so is largely irrelevant. That it impacts AOS is one of the great urban legends in the immigration world. 2) Getting married can be a red flag for CBP, which is why my advice is to always say you’re entering for a vacation or tourism — this is not misrepresentation if your intent is to do a destination wedding in the U.S. and return. If you plan on doing AOS it likely is. There’s a document out there somewhere where USCIS’ internal appeals body distinguishes between “vacation” with intent to return and “vacation” with intent to adjust status. The short of it is so long as they don’t ask follow-ups and you return to Mexico it’s sufficient. @TBoneTX has a good standard line if they do ask follow-ups about if you’re getting married for how to honestly answer. 3) With all the above said, you are allowed to change your mind once you get here; the law on this is somewhat complex, but the short is that the only thing that is a bar to doing this is lying or misrepresentation to CBP when you enter. There’s a lot of myths around this topic on both the pro-AOS and anti-AOS sides which is why you see so much discussion on the 90 day rule above, people talking about if they can adjust after marriage, etc. The most straightforward and legally sound thing to do is enter on B1/B2, get married, and head back, and then have your wife file I-130. If you do that you won’t have to worry about any of the grey areas that people waste so many pixels discussing.

Link in English to the details for OP. Not as stringent as a lot of South America, but still a decent amount of red tape. Requires the foreigner to get their birth certificate apostilled and translated as well as to undergo medical exams in Mexico. OP — My suggestion would be to fly in and do the wedding stateside since that avoids needing a translation for USCIS and the red tape of marriage in Mexico, but ultimately it’s a choice for the two of you and like pushbrk mentioned, there’s a lot of options.

It is perfectly legal to enter the U.S. as a tourist to get married and then return to your home country. We did it in December on my husband’s ESTA. Utah is also an option, but you’d have to meet in person after. I’m not sure about Mexico, but in general Hispanic countries are known for ridiculous red tape around civil marriage. There’s a three week waiting period in Chile, for example, and they’ve been known to make foreigners hire translators for the ceremony. Running down for a “quick” marriage in Latin America isn’t usually that quick. Your fiancée can file the I-130 the second you’re married. It’s usually best to wait until CBP has recorded your exit from the country, though, which can be checked online on the I-94 website.

Yeah, it’s definitely not the best rewards card but we were more concerned about getting an unsecured card in his name to build his credit while he was waiting on the CR-1 process. No annual fee and friendly to people with no credit history was high on the list… plus I got a referral bonus of 15,000 Amex points!

Yes, but as a prominent member here points out every time this comes up, plenty do since super-technically MFS requires an ITIN too and there are people who don’t feel like paper filing or going through the ITIN process. Why the computer requires a tax ID for people who aren’t eligible without MFJ is beyond me. It’s not materially different from MFS unless you live in a community property state, are eligible for certain anti-poverty credits, or make more than $120k. Your tax advisor isn’t allowed to use the word “materiality” with you until it’s on the third round with the IRS, but you’re allowed to consider it when making choices on your tax filings and the IRS does when taking enforcement action. That being said, I agree with you. It’s almost never beneficial in these cases to file MFS or single. The main reason is you don’t feel like paper filing, but you’ll eventually need to paper file to amend anyway, so that makes no sense to me either. Especially with the access to the U.S. banking and credit system that an ITIN brings. For most people it should be a no brainer, and I think we should talk more about those benefits.

Thanks; I think what got us approved was using my income as his. Amex is willing to take risks with no credit history if there’s sufficient income, so it worked in our favor. Like you said — it really helps with building the credit history which is the main reason we did it. I know the file jointly vs. file single debate is always difficult for people, so wanted to provide context for why filing jointly with an ITIN can help while you’re waiting. Obviously it’s not for everyone, but it provides a lot of non-tax benefits as well,

Are they or have they ever been a member of the Communist Party/youth league? Or association with someone who was? That would be the first thing that I’d think of that might complicate things from a communist country. It’s still an admissibility issue. Not assuming anything, just trying to think of things that might cause delay if USCIS became aware and there’s no issue on the petitioner end.