VinnyH

Maybe an unpopular opinion here, but I see no huge red flags. You visited last year for 19 days in June, 16 days a year later, and another 13 days 4 months later in August during the typical summer/holiday/touristic season... Depends on where you are from, but most people in Europe and working have plenty of vacation (in France where I come from, you get up to 11 weeks of paid vacation all included). As long as you have ties in your country (which is the case with your family and job) and can be articulate when asked about it by the CBP officer at the POE, you should be fine. There are way worse red flags than you... Maybe you should hold off on another visit until next year though...

I read everything, and although I cannot really help you with your issue, I have a couple of thoughts/comments: - file a deadline extension ASAP - talk with a CPA in person, or do walk-in/scheduled appointment at an HR Block center - not sure if this is specific with TurboTax (which I have been since 2010), I always do my taxes as soon as I can (in early February after I receive all tax forms and W-2): if I get a refund, I get it right away, if I owe money, I always schedule the money to be taken out of my checking account on April 15. That way, no last minute surprise or stress for me. Hope you can do that going forward. Good luck with your situation!

Even if that was no longer the case and SCOTUS were to overturn its own ruling in Hodges v. Obergefell, returning the marriage to the States, it is worth noting that: 1. at the federal level, same-sex marriage will still be recognized (along with its benefits, such as immigration) as long as the marriage is recognized in the state where it took place. The ruling at stake is not Obergefell but U.S. v. Windsor that repealed DOMA Section 3. 2. the Respect for Marriage Act passed by Congress ensured that a marriage valid in one state must be recognized in another state (even if that state were to no longer recognize same-sex marriage), and furthermore officially repealed DOMA Section 3. In summary, from a pure legal standpoint, immigration benefits linked to same-sex marriage is not likely to change any time soon. But under the current administration, you are never safe from some surprises, depending on how the Department of Justice will instruct the agencies to enforce/implement/interprete the laws.

This quote from an official statement by CBP Spokeperson Hilton Beckham has been relayed in many media outlets articles: Hilton Beckham, assistant commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), said, "Green card holders who have not broken any U.S. laws, committed application fraud, or failed to apply for a re-entry permit after a long period of travel have nothing to fear about entering and exiting the country." It looks like CBP clearly targets now LPRs who have been out of the country for an extended period of time. Since it mentions explicitly re-entry permits (which is issued for a leave of absence of a year or more), one would think that a LPR being away for less than a year should be fine. Yet, as mentioned by @Boiler, it is playing with fire. OP has reasons to be concerned for his wife, as we cannot predict for sure how CBP will handle the case under the new administration's directives.

So my husband's GC is expiring in a little less than 6 months (April 2025) so we applied for his GC Renewal through a I-90 Form submitted online. I read that it would take in average 2 years to get the new green card (USCIS Processing Times for I-90 / Renewal on the website), but to our surprise, after only 2 business days, we got a notification that the I-90 Form was approved and the new card is being produced. When we got the notification email that the case status had changed, we expected that it would be the appointment for biometrics, but no. It was a nice surprise!

Usually, when credit cards that are renewed due to the current one expiring, unlike in the case of a stolen card where the number is radically new, you will keep the same number (only the expiration date and security/CCV code will be different). Many credit card companies would honor ongoing subscription payments (cable, Netflix etc...) and some may even honor ad hoc charges made under the previous expired card. Therefore, you might be lucky.

Your thread is greatly appreciated and I am sure it will be helpful to many. Sorry however that you went through so much trouble getting the info. I guess the lesson to learn here is to always look at who signed a document and go up the food chain: for the N-662, despite being a USCIS form, it was signed by a judge, so start from the judge and go up the chain from there for the apostille. No wonder USCIS was so useless... For the Certificate of Naturalization: - if you present the original (which you never do since you ALWAYS keep the original for yourself), because it was signed by a district judge, only a district judge can issue an apostille. - if it is a certified copy, because it is signed by the USCIS Field Office Director, the apostille must be issued by the U.S. Dept. of State.

Thanks @millefleur! It makes sense that a local (federal) district court judge can issue an apostille, as it seems that this ability was delegated to them by the U.S. Department of Justice. A federal judge is, in principle, very powerful and can certainly certify that he/she had the ability to certify that he/she had the authority to sign a document such as a court order for a name change... 😁 In any case, thanks for this information!!!! As for the certified copy of the Certificate of Naturalization, I was explained that the only person (cabinet-level) who could certify a USCIS Field Office director signature is the Secretary of Homeland Security himself, but that Secretary typically would not issue an apostille, the prerogative instead granted to the U.S. Department of State (or, in some case the U.S. Dept. of Justice – which seems to be the judges themselves). For mine, I did it during COVID-19, which was a long and fastidious exercise (7 months), so I hope the process has been made more simple. I followed the guidelines below on the DOS website itself, and it is very well explained. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/records-and-authentications/authenticate-your-document/office-of-authentications.html Good luck!

Thanks @millefleur. I am confused though. An apostille does not authenticate the content of a document. It only certifies that the person who signed a document had the authority to do so. At the federal level and for court documents, my understanding was that the only highest-level government body was the Department of Justice, since only they can authenticate that the (federal) district court judge who signed the N-662 had the authority to do so. Am I wrong? In my personal experience, I had to have a certified copy of my Certificate of Naturalization (issued by the local USCIS Field Office – I made a full report on that thread here) translated and apostilled, and it was through the U.S. Department of State, since they were the only authority who could certify that the USCIS Field Office Director was competent to sign my certified copy of the Certificate of Naturalization.

A Birth Certificate for a U.S. born person is not always a proof of citizenship (even though it does in 99.9% of the cases)... A child born in the U.S. from foreign diplomat parents would typically not be a U.S. citizen. The U.S. passport, even expired, is still proof of U.S. citizenship. Not sure why you would go through the trouble of getting a BC (unless your fiancée already has one at hand).

If I may add some information to what you've just written... A visa (issued by the U.S. Dept. of State) is merely an authorization to show up / present yourself in front of a U.S. Immigration Officer (the CBP Officer – U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security) at a U.S. POE ("Point Of Entry") – might it be an airport or a land border POE. The duration of the visa means that you can use (meaning to show up at a POE) at any time until its expiration. You can technically use it to present yourself at a POE on the very last day. For a B1/B2, it is generally 10 years. The maximum duration allowed for your stay (as stamped on the passport) is left at the discretion of the CBP Officer, and ultimately decided upon entry (regardless of whether a visa mentions a maximum duration annoted as a remark by the Consular Agent who issued the visa – in the comments section). On the vast majority of the cases, people on a B1/B2 visa are granted a maximum stay of 6 months. This does not mean however that the visitor should stay that long, except for valid and legitimate reasons (how can a visitor indeed stay that long – this would demonstrate no ties in the home country, no job to go back to, and a stronger suspicion of immigrant intent). In the case of OP @MLo, if your fiance intends to come back regularly to visit you on his B1/B2 visa while the I-130 and CR1 visa and processed, it would be wise to not stay up to full duration of 6 months, because it may potentially jeopardize the subsequent B1/B2 visits and bring suspicions upon himself. I would advise 3-4 months, which should be enough for the wedding, spend quality time / honeymoon etc... assuming your fiance can take that much vacation and demonstrate he has the sufficient financial means. Again, do not volunteer to provide more information than what the CBP Officer asks you. However, if asked how long he plans to stay, do not lie: be honest, factual, assertive with proof to back your plans (return ticket, events agenda, bank account balance etc...). Stating that you are coming to the U.S. to marry a U.S. citizen will almost always bring scrutiny and unless the CBP Officer is easy that day, your fiance most likely will get additional questions. He needs to be prepared and convincing. Good luck

Yes. Please note that you can marry your U.S. spouse in the U.S. while on a tourist visit, as long as you are not trying to then adjust status. But be prepared that when/if asked by the U.S. CBP Officer the reason of your visit and you state that you are coming to marry a U.S. citizen, you'd better be prepared to overcome the suspicion of Adjustment of Status, and might get denied entry. Cleanest way is to get married in Canada then CR1, or K1 and come to the U.S. to marry and adjust status.

Big NO Have you even read what we all wrote to you? What you are trying to do is immigration fraud. My post was to explain why you might hear about some people who did successfully adjust status while on a tourist visit, but again, this does not apply to you. I also wanted to clarify about Canadians not needing an ESTA. Again, do the K1 or CR1. The Mods should close this thread.

Canadian citizens do not need an ESTA to enter the U.S. nor do U.S. citizens not need an eTA to enter Canada. But as it was written by other members earlier, all of this is a moot topic since entering the U.S. on a tourist (non-immigrant) visit (ESTA or other tourism visa) with the intention to adjust status is immigration fraud. There have been cases where tourists would enter the U.S. on an ESTA, fell in love, got married and then adjusted status, but that was because it was all in good faith and the tourist did not have immigrant intent (to adjust status) at the time he/she initially entered the U.S., which is clearly not your case. As advised above, either go the K1 or CR1 path.

This doesn't make any sense at all. If you follow this reasoning, all LPR (green card holders) should tick "non-U.S. resident" because all green card holders travel with their original country passport out and back into the U.S. Most of the answers you have received here make sense. Plus, you have the chance to do Pre-Clearance, so you have CBP agents on-site.