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My read is they don’t have a grandchild, it’s an older daughter from a previous marriage. OP — if your wife has decent credit I would suggest to her she might want to open a travel credit card with a signup bonus to make traveling to see you sooner cheaper/free.

Just an update because I know a lot of people are worried about visits given the current climate. Husband landed in the U.S. with a valid ESTA last night. Used mobile passport control — first time as we didn’t realize returning VWP participants could use it previously. They waved him through with less questions than even the normal minimal questions for ESTA (reason for visit, where he was staying, was he staying with family. Responses of: “vacation”, city name, “yes”.) Would highly recommend mobile passport control for anyone who qualifies, I have GE so never used it, but I think the idea is the same and aligns with DHS’ overall objective to take discretion out of the hands of front-line individuals and automate admission decisions so that close-calls are really only made in secondary. Eased our anxiety quiet a bit and according to the husband was a marvel. I will add this though: I’ve been to late night pickups from Avianca and Copa a decent amount of times and this was the first time I’ve seen CBP come out to let families know that their loved ones have been detained, had their visas revoked, and/or referred to secondary. Extraordinarily kind about it, but I’d never seen it before in the two years we’ve been going back and forth between here and Chile. The two people detained/delayed/visas revoked were from non-VWP countries (so not Chile; clarifying that since the status of Chile within VWP is always a cause of heartburn down there.)

That’s not relevant to what OP is asking. Their parents have already filed an extension. @pushbrk and I have advised them that an extension does not mean they have to wait until 10/15 to file. Their question has nothing to do with the payment rules, which would have already been clearly explained to their parents when they filed their extension.

You keep trying to correct me on this as if the IRS quote contradicts what I’ve said. Extensions are extensions of time to file. Not time to pay. It says so on the form. Anyone who files one will see that. Many people need to file them and when you file the form you are required to estimate how much you owe and pay it. There’s really no room for confusion in the process. Regardless. OP’s parents have already filed an extension, and my advice to him was to get them to speed up providing their documents to their CPA so they can file earlier and it’s easier to act as a joint sponsor, which is good advice and has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that an extension of time to file doesn’t relieve someone of their obligation to pay as of 4/15.

An extension is not a requirement to file 10/15. It just gives you until 10/15 to file. This is the slow season in the accounting world on both the audit and tax side, so their CPA might be out of office, but if they can give them all the documents and explain it’s urgent it shouldn’t take that long to turn around. We filed an extension in order to apply for an ITIN in-person tomorrow when he’s visiting me in the states. IRS will take your return anytime from late January until 4/15/28 (with penalties that late if you owe.)

My comment was more one of practicality having misread your initial post i.e. it doesn’t make much sense to amend twice if you don’t have to and it’s easier if you already have an SSN, so the easiest path forward would have been for you just to wait until your wife was here given the stage you were in. The short answer on virtually every tax question is “it depends” and when you throw in a non-resident alien spouse, that becomes even more the case since you have a decent amount of valid options. The way you did it certainly is valid and there’s nothing wrong with it, just might not be the most efficient way, but that’s water under the bridge at this point Sorry again for misreading your initial post.

I misread. Lack of sleep. Sorry about that, OP.

Is your plan to submit a second amended return after she moves to the U.S. in order to claim the tax benefits? It’s certainly possible, but seems like a waste of time to me vs. just amending once she’s here.

@pushbrk has a line on this — it doesn’t really matter for immigration purposes. Consular officers understand. For tax purposes it matters if you live in a handful of states or made more than $125k, but if you have to amend, I’d just wait until your spouse is here with an SSN and amend to MFJ so you get money back.

You are stating the opinion of some CBP officers, which is no less anecdotal than the experiences I’m citing. It is not the opinion of all CBP officers, and there are those that will admit as IR-1. They have a lot of discretion on admission decisions even if actions might not be the standard. You make it sound like they’re robots, which they’re not. There’s no harm in asking them to provide USCIS with one less point of failure. Worst that can happen is they tell someone what the CBP officer told you when they tried it. Best is that they admit you as IR-1 and it’s one less opportunity for USCIS to screw up. Most people prefer to avoid the I-90. I don’t really see the point in discouraging people from asking based on your experience given that it’s not the universal experience and nothing bad happens regardless of the answer.

We’re saying the same thing: CBP determine class of admission at POE, which is different from which LPR status you ultimately end up with. You got one of the ones whom I mentioned was of the mind that CR-1 visa = CR-1 class of admission. That’s usually where the screwups with USCIS occur, which is why it’s worth asking them to admit you as IR-1. If they say no, it’s not a big deal. If they say yes, one less potential point of failure. There are CBP officers who will admit as IR-1 even on a CR-1 visa (you can search Reddit for proof of stamps showing that and pretty sure others here have mentioned it.) End of the day, anyone who enters after 2 years will eventually get a 10 year GC one way or the other, though.

Technically CBP is responsible for determining class of admission, and there are reports about some feeling very strongly that CR-1=CR-1. USCIS then reviews the admissions data and determines what green card to issue based on marriage date and date of admission. A lot of the reports of USCIS screwing this up comes from CBP admitting someone as CR-1, which USCIS should ignore when issuing the green card, but sometimes doesn’t and then you have to file I-90. That’s why it’s useful to verbally mention to CBP in a respectful way that the beneficiary should be admitted as IR-1 since it’s been over two years.

Visa is based on date of interview. Class of admission at POE is a grey area: some CBP officers say it’s based on visa, but if you ask nicely they might note IR-1 over CR-1 to make it less confusing to USCIS if it’s been over 2 years at the POE and they enter IR-1. Others default to the date of marriage since that’s what USCIS uses. It really is an officer-by-officer thing what they enter into the computer. I would ask it be noted IR-1 if she enters after the 2-year anniversary, though to make it less confusing for USCIS. If CBP refuses, not the worst thing in the world, though. 10-year green card vs. 2-year green card is based on length of marriage at point of entry, regardless of what CBP notes as class of admission. USCIS is supposed to compare date of marriage to date of entry and make the determination based on that, but sometimes they don’t and default to what CBP enters. If CBP notes CR-1 since the visa is CR-1, USCIS might screw this up when issuing the green card. In that case you’d file form I-90 for free immediately asking them to fix it. If your wife enters with an immigrant visa in your passport CBP will process her an an immigrant and she’ll be an LPR, even if you’d rather wait a few months so she gets the 10-year green card.

Easier said than done, I know, but have you considered looking for an additional stream of income? If you’re only a few thousand off a part-time job might be an option.

Above answer works: you provide evidence and a letter. They might have more questions and ask for more evidence, but if she’s not a filer there’s no requirement to file. The other option is to use FreeTaxUSA to file a return even if not required and report $1 in interest income (won’t have any tax impact but you have to report something for e-File.) Can be done for the three most recent tax years free online using efile and if the only source of income is SS, it’s incredibly easy to do. Can also have VITA do it Has non-immigration benefits as well since a lot of government programs are easier to access with a filed return and it closes off that SSN from identity theft (i.e. someone fraudulently filing a return using your sisters SSN and claiming a refund and then your sister getting hit with a bill.) Personal choice, but anytime someone brings up that they’re not required to file I always point out that anyone who qualifies as a non-filer is going to have a really simple return and 9/10 when dealing with the government it’s easier to just do the free simple thing rather than rely on an exception and have to explain it.