S2N

Your choice. The I-130 is glitchy on online, but it’s cheaper and you have less room for human data entry/scan errors. USCIS doesn’t process paper I-130s on paper anymore based on online comments from ISOs. It’s all scanned or typed in once you mail it.

Our situation is different (gay couple), but I basically told my husband the same as he’s considering changing his last name to either be mine or incorporate mine. We’re just waiting 4.5 years from now until (hopeful) naturalization. Chile has a way to do it, but it’s needlessly complicated and like most things dealing with their government it’s easier to do it through the consulate in DC than while living there.

Simple. Truthful. Automated (GE or MPC) Those are the three key words with CBP. She can do the first two this time. Every visit after she can do all three.

The visa is issued in the name on the passport. It’s fine you did I-130 under married name: you’ll just list it as another name used.

“Vacation” is always the correct response even after marriage unless asked a follow-up. For “where are you staying?” the city name usually works. Most of the questions can be responded to with one word answers. No need to elaborate, she just needs to answer both simply and truthfully. Ireland isn’t a high risk country so it’s unlikely to cause any issues, but no need to give them more things to ask about. She won’t be able to use mobile passport control the first time, but every time after she’ll be able to use it. If she flies out of Dublin instead of Heathrow or Gatwick she’ll do passport control in Dublin. Edit to add: the reason “vacation” is always correct is that ESTA has two classes, tourism or business. If she’s not coming under the business class, she is seeking admission as a tourist. The CBP officer is asking to determine which class of admission she is applying to enter under: WT (tourist) or WB (business). There is no WVMS class (Waiver-Visiting-My-Spouse.) That’s tourism — WT.

Follow-up to @TBoneTX’s excellent post to say that it’s extremely unlikely that there will be follow-ups to the accurate response of “vacation” and that if she has ever been to the U.S. before on a valid ESTA (even if it’s different than the current one), mobile passport control will further decrease the odds of follow-ups since it flags any issues before reaching the officer. Only requirement for an Irish national to use it is a previous visit to the U.S. under the visa waiver program.

1) There is no obligation to volunteer red flags to the government. When asked the purpose of the trip they’re asking to determine if the admission is under ESTA’s business or tourism class. It is perfectly acceptable to say “vacation” since that is true. If they specifically ask if she’s visiting her spouse she has to be honest, but it’s not a requirement that she proactively disclose it. My husband landed in the U.S. with a pending I-130 on ESTA a week ago. Linked to my summary of his admission below. 2) There is no reason not to start the process as early as possible. You can delay at NVC as long as you want by paying the fee and then contacting them at least once a year to keep the petition open. We prepped the petition before hand and filed a week after getting the married, literally the day we landed in Chile after his visit here to get married. If you’re getting married in Ireland and she’s not already in the U.S., you could file the day you get the certificate. Reason to wait for her to leave if you do the marriage in the U.S. is to not confuse USCIS with the “is she in the U.S.?” question and also requesting consular processing. Know you’re doing it in Ireland, but explaining the logic. 3) Re: the family visiting, I’m a strong advocate of the view that the response to “reason for visit?” at passport control in any country is one word — “vacation” — for any type of leisure travel unless asked to explain more. It’s accurate and it’s what the passport control officer is going to note on the admission form anyway, so no need to give more details unless asked. My recent post about arrival on ESTA with pending I-130:

Just as a general rule of thumb from someone who is still in the I-130 stage but has dealt with the government a decent amount: you should assume most estimates from USCIS/DHS are wrong, and can assume most estimates from the State Department are correct.

Distinctions like this are why lawyers are useful. Forms are easy to fill out; the U.S. government writes in plain English and if you take everything literally the mechanical process of doing it isn’t hard. The trick is knowing which form to fill out when and what the burden of proof is as well as what the judgmental areas of the law that give discretion to officials are, and what is the most successful way to address those. Technically DIY is possible for everything with the government. It doesn’t make it advisable in every case, though.

Chiming in to say this would be a case not to DIY it and to hire a qualified lawyer with experience in waivers.

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.)