US Immigration from Chile

Just wanted to provide this as a recent reference point: husband and I filed joint 2024 taxes making the 6013(g) election to treat him as a U.S. person for the limited purpose of filing a joint return (does not trigger FBAR when done under 6013(g).)

Filed in-person: 4/26/2025

ITIN letter received: 7/3/2025

Applied for Amex Blue Cash Everyday: 7/3/2025

Additional documents requested: 7/3/2025

Amex approved: 7/4/2025

Our joke was that there s was no better way to celebrate the Fourth than opening a credit card.

Something worth noting: US law allows credit card applicants to treat their spouses income as theirs so long as they could reasonably access it to pay debts.

We provided our joint income as his income, and used my address and phone number.

Amex requested that we call after we submitted the application on the website, and the person on the phone told us we d need to provide his passport, a copy of the ITIN letter, and a signed declaration about his U.S. military status. Did that same day and were approved around 24 hours after uploading. It was helpful he was visiting me in the US for this since he could talk directly with the customer service representative when we had to call. We clarified with them that he still lived in Chile and they confirmed that wasn t an issue so long as he could provide a passport scan and ITIN.

His approval was only in his name and was on a non-secured card. The reason we went for the Amex Blue Cash Everyday is that it has no annual fee and Amex has a practice where at 91 days they will provide a generous credit line increase (up to triple), which also helps building the credit score. They re also pretty liberal with giving out unsecured credit cards to people with no credit history so long as income is high enough.

I know not everyone filed taxes jointly while waiting, but wanted to provide this as a data point for one of the benefits getting an ITIN can provide for people who are waiting on consular processing.

Just wanted to share experience getting my wife's Ohio driver's license after recently immigrating with a IR1 visa, in case it is helpful to others. In Ohio driving is very necessary to live regular life (no good public transportation), so we wanted to make sure my wife could drive soon after immigrating. I am still not 100% if she would have been able to drive with her foreign Chilean license before getting Ohio license -- because visitors are permitted to drive for up to 90 days with a foreign license, but she technically is not a "visitor". And even if legally allowed to drive, there is also a question if my insurance would cover her, because they require everyone living in the same household to be named in the policy (and with local a local driver license) -- insurance will typically cover someone borrowing your car, but again my wife is not "borrowing", she is living with me. All that to be said, that getting her Ohio driver's license ASAP was a big priority for us, i.e. before she would receive her physical green card.

So for Ohio, for a new driver's license (no reciprocal agreement with Chile), you need to first get your "temps" (temporary permit) -- which requires passing the written test, either online (proctored) or at the BMV (no typo, it is BMV not DMV in Ohio). Once you pass the test you have to go to the BMV and show proof of the following: legal presence in the US, photo ID with proof of name / DOB, proof of SSN, and proof of Ohio Residence. Foreign passport / US visa works for photo ID, and luckily we had been married a while so we already had my wife's name on bank accounts and credit cards that showed her Ohio residence, because sometimes that can be a bit tricky as a new immigrant. And because my wife had lived in the US previously, we had her SSN before she even immigrated again -- though they even list that requirement as "if assigned", so may not be 100% needed. The big question was how the local BMV officers would handle the I551 stamp with her IR1 visa as "proof of legal residence".

For all of us experts in immigration, and for USCIS, it is abundantly clear that the I551 stamp serves as proof of residence, as even on the IR1 visa it says: "UPON ENDORSEMENT SERVES AS TEMPORARY I-551 EVIDENCING PERMANENT RESIDENCE FOR 1 YEAR." But this is not so clear to the BMV workers. The first time we went to the BMV, the first worker my wife interacted with didn't seem sure at all, and kept asking her for her green card. But she was finally able to speak to the office manager, and she was much more familiar with the process and cleared her to get her "temps." After getting the temps, you need to pass a driving and maneuverability test, after which we had to go back to the BMV -- and the fun part is we have to present all the same proof again, for some reason. This second time, again the initial worker seemed to have 0 idea what this visa and stamp was, and spent a lot of time on the phone talking to someone about if it was acceptable. After the phone call she was ready to accept it, but said we needed to mark that my wife was a "temporary resident". I tried a bit to explain that she isn't a "temporary resident", rather the stamp is "temporary evidence for permanent residence" -- but it was no use, and I wasn't going to push it too hard anyway.

So after all that, she was issued her Ohio Driver's License, though it does only have validity up until the 1 year mark on her I551 stamp -- which I was expecting. So she will have to go back after a year to renew, with her physical green card in hand to get the normal 4 or 8 years of validity.

Again just wanted to share, because there is limited information on this topic state-by-state, so hopefully can help someone in the future!

Posting this here as other places on the internet are raising questions and figured it d be good to have a reference post.

The short of it: the Trump administration has released an executive order banning entry from certain countries as of 4 June 2025: RESTRICTING THE ENTRY OF FOREIGN NATIONALS TO PROTECT THE UNITED STATES FROM FOREIGN TERRORISTS AND OTHER NATIONAL SECURITY AND PUBLIC SAFETY THREATS

K-1 visas are not included in the exceptions as fianc s are not immediate family members. IR-1/CR-1 is included in the exceptions.

While it is still early, based on previous iterations of this, it is considered unlikely to be struck down by the courts by most legal observers, though there is some discussion as to if individuals such as K-1 petitioners could sue based on the specifics of their circumstances. If this is something you would prefer as compared to refile as IR-1/CR-1, you should contact a lawyer who can provide you legal advice no one on this forum can.

If you want the most practical approach at this time it would be to get married and then file an I-130, withdrawing the I-129F petition as it would no longer be valid after the marriage.

Probably the easiest way for people going the K-1 route impacted by this would be the Utah online marriage route followed by an in-person meeting, but a marriage in your fianc s country or a third country would also work. If you go the Utah route, you must meet in person after the wedding and before filing the I-130.

Edit: edited to be more specific in word choice.

Wondering if anyone has recent experience / or more information about entering the US (by land or air), and specifically if there were more reviews of phones / social media. There have been more news stories of tourists or people with work visas being turned away or detained based on what they find in people's phones, so just trying to see if there have been recent experiences here.

Someone on Reddit mentioned to double check the signature sections for online filed I-130s because apparently its been a trend for people to sign them wrong, and while I didn't screw that up, while I was scanning through it I noticed that my response to question 13 (my husband's residence outside the US) was showing up as blank on the PDF (screenshot attached.)

I vaguely remember getting an error on the online form when trying to type in SAME because it didn't like for formating or something like that. Since we'd already provided his physical address is leaving this blank something I need to be worried about or should I submit unsolicited evidence clarifying it?