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Hello All,

I was hoping for a bit of guidance here on my question. I have already applied for my mother under an IR-5. Our case has been documentarily qualified at the NVC since last February. However, we are still waiting for an interview at the Accra embassy. I am a grad student and so I do not earn an income. My husband and have I always filed taxes as Married Filing Jointly. But, I am graduating and it would be beneficial for us to file Married Filing Separate for student loan repayment purposes.

I do not earn enough to sponsor my parent alone at this time and for the foreseeable future. My husband exceeds the income requirement for our household size and we already submitted our I-864 and I-864A with tax filings where we filed jointly. At this point, can we file taxes as married filing separately for this tax year, and would this cause any issues with the approval for my mother at her future interview? We have not filed taxes yet for the 2024 tax year. Any input on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

-E

Hi all,

I'm filing taxes for myself and my wife this year, and it's complicated! We plan to file jointly. I am confused as to whether the income she earned before she moved here will qualify for the foreign earned income exclusion.

For background:

• My wife moved to the US from Hong Kong in March 2024. She lived in Hong Kong for many years.
• She got a green card in mid-2024 and has not left the US.
• Before she moved, she earned some money in Jan 2024 from her previous job.

My understanding is that she would meet the physical presence test, and if we file jointly, she would qualify for the foreign earned income exclusion. I believe the exclusion amount would be prorated based on the amount of time she spent overseas in 2024. Is that correct?

Hello folks!

We were married on Valentine's Day within our K1 VISA deadline, but we are struggling with paperwork formalities. It took 18 months to resolve the K1 process, but we did it! I did not realize you could get a Social Security card before marriage, so we went to apply after marriage. The Social Security office would not even enter her info, as they pointed out that her name on the marriage certificate does not match the I-94. The I-94 lists her First (Given) Name as MIDDLE, FIRST, which matches her K1 VISA and Vietnamese passport, but the marriage certificate lists FIRST, MIDDLE. Apparently, this is a relatively common problem, due to the Vietnamese name convention of listing the middle name first on legal documents. Evidently, it was not an issue upon entry into the country, as everything matched. The Social Security office also seemed concerned that the marriage certificate had her given last name, not mine. We intended to honor her Vietname last name and append mine at the end, but we decided to get that name changed later to avoid any potential paperwork issues (ironically). Getting the last name on the I-94 changed makes no sense to me whatsoever, and I assume that we received misguided feedback from the Social Security representative. Correct?

The Social Security office directed me to the local Homeland Security office, but they indicated they could not help change the document. After a quick online research, I followed the instructions to make the change request on the CBP website. I carefully entered all the data, document scans, a clear explanation of the situation, and a request for a new I-94 with the name order switch. Google indicated that the process should take about 5 working days. However, two days later we received a generic response email (see attached sans sensitive data) that listed the steps to take for generic problems that did not apply to our situation and a closing statement that if we were "not in a hurry", we could submit all of the data I had already sent them as a reply and the issue would be looked into - with a current response timeline of over 30 days! The other option offered was to visit a CBP center, but the nearest one is a six-hour drive (one way). My wife is concerned, as the I-94 has an Admit Until Date of 2/20/25 (tomorrow) and the K1 VISA is dated through to the same date. I am confident that these dates are irrelevant since we married before the deadline, but reassurance is welcomed!

We still need to get her an ID from the DMV and the social security card. We started the I-485, but I have not checked yet to see if either is required to file. Should we scramble to get the ID (which in itself could present a naming convention issue), but wait 30+ days for the I-94 change to proceed with the SSN request? Can we file the I-485 in the interim? Finally, what proof do we need to keep on us for her not to be detained for deportation? We have followed the rule of law in every way, but with the twitch of a pen from you know who, I fear she could become a target for deportation.

I apologize for the lengthy explanation of our situation, but I wanted to cover our situation and our concerns in detail, with the hopes that others have similar experiences to share that might be of help.

Best to all of you in your journey!

CBP Response Email.txt

I've read what I can but wanted to put a fresh ask out to the community .... As of January 22, 2025 USCIS is no longer requiring immigrants to have the COVID Vaccine count towards the required vaccinations to immigrate. But in looking at the DHS website/required vaccines listed on consulate pages (and their identified panel physicians) the COVID-19 vaccine (and boosters every 12 months) is still listed on there.

My parents have their medical appointment coming up Ontario, Canada on March 17th. They both got COVID vaccines ... Round 1 and 2, and then boosters because of how strict Canada was...they got their last booster January 2024 (just over a year ago) to ensure they didnt have issues at the border visiting. But that last booster made them both feel not ok in various ways. They are not willing to do it again. Wondering if anyone has any insight on when we can expect consulates/panel physicians to adopt the CURRENT requirement aka no more COVID vaccine requirement as part of the necessary vaccinations for immigration.

Has anyone done a recent medical where they brought this up? What did the doctor say? If the doctor said they still don't have a memo and the intending immigrant refuses to take the shot or 12-month booster at the appointment, what happens? do they still get to go to the interview and hopefully by then the consulate can say well they are ok because now the vaccine isn't required anymore? Or...what happens?

I don't understand how USCIS can push this through in January 2025 and post it online as the new rule and it not trickle through to the other entities that are actually processing immigration applications to be inline with that new order...

Maybe someone in the visa journey community has some real recent experience with this dilemma or any further insight...

I physically and mentally cannot be away from my husband anymore. I am wondering if i should just file the I-129K (K3) in hopes of trying to get the process going. We applied over 8 months and have still been waiting. This process is killing both of us right now.