US Immigration from Ecuador

I m a Naturalized US Citizen. My sister and her family entered on a B1/B2 Visa 3 years ago and over stayed.
Are there any provisions for them to gain some temporary rights during their wait for their residency after they apply?
They entered legally, are here and are waiting for their legal status to be changed. If they could have some benefit during their wait (which will be years) that would be great.

Thanks

Does the Guayaquil Ecuador embassy accept joint sponsors? My fianc 's cousin is willing to be a. Sponsor. I might have a job lined up soon but I've been unemployed since the pandemic .

Hey all!

So my Ecuadorian husband and I are preparing for his adjustment of status from an F1 visa, through marriage to a US Citizen (me!). We tried to retrieve an electronic copy of his I-94 from the CBP website because Form I-485 asks for that info. When we typed in his 10-digit Passport Number (made up example: 0123456789) , which is the one labeled as Passport No. on the actual passport, the website results showed an outdated arrival. At first we were panicking, thinking that his I-94 was never updated.

But then we noticed this weird number on the top of the passport biographical page, listed between the country code (ECU) and the Passport No. It had an A followed by 7 digits (made up example: A1234567). I read up a little bit and I m pretty positive it s called a Passport BOOKLET/BOOK Number, basically an inventory number for passports, and very commonly used in South American countries. They change with each passport. Since my husband has three passports, he has three different passport booklet numbers, but all three have the same passport number 0123456789 . (Also, if this helps, his visa also lists the same passport number 0123456789 thank God lol .)

So anyways we were like - OK, let s try these! When we typed in the passport BOOKLET/BOOK numbers, each booklet number (and NOT the Passport No.) brought up his different arrival dates, including his most recent arrival date. These booklet numbers were also listed as the actual passport number on the I-94s. That s why the booklet numbers were bringing in the most updated results, I imagine.

Although our problem was temporarily solved since we could download his most recent I-94, I m concerned that USCIS officers will have issues. They ll see two discrepancies:

1. His passport lists both the booklet and passport number. But his most recent I-94 lists the booklet number as THE passport number. They ll be like Uhm the passport number on the I-94 should be 012345678, and not A1234567, ma am.
2. His actual passport number, once entered, will pull up an outdated I-94 that lists a different arrival date than the newer I-94 that was retrieved with the booklet number.

Anyone have any ideas or knowledge about this, I know it s super specific but I m really trying to avoid making an appointment with them, if there s technically nothing wrong going on and we re just freaking out over something they already know how to manage. Maybe their system is way more integrated than what s generating the forms on the website, and it won t be a problem? I appreciate any insights!

This is the continuation thread for

https://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/759423-vawa-part-22/

which was closed because of its large size.

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The Part 22 thread reached its size in rapid time, thanks in large part to reports of many approvals and happy reactions to them. May those continue in this thread.

Absolutely remember ongoing issues from Part 22, and carry on with them here!

Since today is the regular filing deadline for 2020 taxes, I am starting a thread to share experiences on filing jointly while requesting an ITIN for the foreign spouse.

Our situation: my wife is outside the U.S. waiting for a CR-1 interview. I wanted to file jointly before the deadline, since I could not submit a federal extension without a SSN for her. I also didn't want to file separately (even if amending later) since that would result in owing a lot up front. I used TaxAct for the first time this year and have no complaints. I have used other tax software in the past but tend to go with whatever is available through free filing options, which can change from year to year.

With that in mind, my timeline so far is:

• Late March: submitted a (paper) extension request for my state return, explaining that we are applying for an ITIN with the federal return and could not submit the state return until that was assigned
  • No response received
  • Mid-April: called the state taxpayer hotline and was advised that if I didn't receive a response to the extension request by the May 17 deadline, to submit the return with the spouse's SSN left blank and then wait for them to request the missing information
• Late April: visited my wife abroad and got necessary signatures and documents from her
• May 5: USPS Priority Mail Express envelope received at IRS Austin address containing the following:
  • Nonresident Alien Spouse Election Statement (signed by both of us, prepared based on this IRS guidance)
  • Form W-7 signed by my wife, plus supporting documents:
    • Original state ID (to establish identity) - the details for this were included on part 6d of the form
    • Certified copy of birth certificate (to establish foreign status)
      • Accompanied by an additional information sheet with her name and "Form W-7" at the top, containing all the details requested in part 6d of the form - not sure if this was necessary, but I didn't want to chance it
      • Also accompanied by a translation that I prepared and signed using the typical certification statement found in these forums
    • Certified copy of marriage certificate (since the birth certificate had her maiden name and everything else used her married name)
  • Form 1040 (signed by both of us) and all relevant schedules/forms
  • W-2
• May 15: USPS Priority Mail envelope received at PO Box for state returns, containing:
  • Cover letter explaining the situation
  • State return signed by both of us (SSN for wife left blank per the instructions I had previously received over the phone)
  • W-2
  • Copy of the extension request I had previously submitted (stamped as "file copy")
  • Printout of the "How do I apply for an ITIN?" page from the IRS website, highlighting the part that says how long it's supposed to take

Now all I can do is wait patiently and hope I did everything right. I will update this thread if I have any news.

Anyone who is going through the same process, please feel free to post your own timeline.