CinderSoul

Mostly for safeguarding, really. The l-130 is estimated to take 19 months already, so if there is anything we could do to prevent any RFE and risk extending the waiting time even further, it would be great, plus I hear that proving financial commitment serves as solid evidence... or maybe I'm overthinking things and it's fine to just wait...

I apologize in advance because I'm not the most well-versed in the tax world, so all of this is very confusing to me. So your recommendation is, I fill up a POA form so I can work on the W7 form on my spouse's behalf, so they can get an ITIN? And with that, we can move forward with having a joint account together?

Just looked into PayPal, sadly doesn't seem it's possible because his account is Brazilian, so the Friends and Family option is not available...

Hi everyone, I've been trying to look for any answers related to this, but I'm feeling pretty stumped. For context, my spouse is not in the US right now, and we have a CR1 application ongoing so we can start living together, in which I'm the sponsor. In the meantime, we really want to find ways to save money, and have some sort of centralized checking or savings account. Right now, we send each other money through PayPal, and we end up spending a lot on extra fees. I feel like there's gotta be a better way to do this. If we could have a joint account or something, that would make it easier for us to avoid the extra hassle, while also helping us prove our commitment and avoid possible RFEs. The trick part is, everywhere I look, it seems like my spouse would require either an SSN, TIN, or to be physically present in the US in order to open any account. Right now, he only has a tourist Visa and a passport, nothing else. Is there really no way to make this work? I would really appreciate some advice, thanks!

I've been looking more into this but I'm not exactly sure if that is possible or not. Currently, my spouse is not in the US and we are waiting for the NVC approval for his CR1 Visa. I was hoping to open a joint account together in the hope of serving as additional proof of bonafide marriage, but I am uncertain if that would be possible if they are not physically present. Does anyone know if this can be done, or had a similar experience? I've been looking through some of the more common banks like Chase and Bank of America, but if anyone has any other bank suggestions, I would really appreciate it

He is Brazilian. I'm honestly not entirely sure about the laws there, however. I do plan on getting another job as soon as I can, for sure. My question is, from my understanding proof of funds can be proved through income plus assets, correct? In that case, would the amount saved in our joint account be able to help prove the required amount? So for example, in case my income doesn't reach the yearly requirement, could I send bank statements with the money in our checking account as well?

In technical terms yes, he is a contractor working remotely for an American company in a work-from-anywhere model, so they would have no reason to leave that job once he moves. In practical terms maybe he would have to negotiate a higher salary or find another job to match the cost of living in the US, but that shouldn't matter necessarily, right?

The current scenario for us is that we are waiting for our application to be processed, but I am unfortunately unemployed right now. My spouse (who is the applicant), however, makes well above the required amount for proof of funds, and their pay is in USD. If we combine our finances through a joint bank account, would that be able to serve as proof that we have the necessary funds? Or would it be better to seek a co-sponsor in our case?

Thank you for sharing this!! I will keep that in mind. We already uploaded a lot of plane tickets and hotel booking receipts we've had over the years, since that's basically our main evidence, and I was indeed concerned if that would be enough. Since my husband is not in the US right now and only has a tourism VISA I don't think we have a lot more options to prove the bonafide marriage outside that, since I don't believe we would be able to have joint accounts or rent a house in both our names, or share health insurance (if anyone else has any suggestion however, I would appreciate the advice)

Thank you for saying that. It is very frustrating to deal with such a long time like this, and we wanted to have this sorted out as soon as possible since we don't know what could change because of the current administration, especially since we are a same sex couple. The anxiety can sometimes be a bit too much. Either way, we are gonna try to stay strong and patient until the time comes. I'll definitely check out other threads for any helpful information!

Oh dear... I was hoping for some optimistic responses, I'm now feeling even more dread than before, oh man 💔. I appreciate the reply, though...

Would 16 months be only the NVC approval, or is this for the entire process? I'm a bit confused because I see that after the approval there are still several steps listed, from proof of funds to documentation filling, then interview... And like, is 16 months an average? Is there a chance we could get lucky and it process sooner? Apologies if this is common knowledge, we just want to understand how much waiting we must go through, so we can be emotionally prepared for it.

Hey everyone, So, after a couple of weeks of waiting for my l-130 submission so my husband can get a CR1 Visa, I just got an update on the USCIS site that the estimated time for case decision is a whopping 19 months. This is an insane amount of time, I wanted to ask if these estimates are correct and really take that long? Before applying, I remember seeing most people mention that the average is 11 months, so I'm really surprised to be given that much waiting time, especially since in the timeline this is just step 2 out of possibly 12. Would anyone kindly be able to weigh in on this? Thanks!

Hey everyone, I don't know if anyone else has gone through this scenario, but I'm expecting to fill up my I-130 application soon, but while it processes my husband has plans to travel to the US to meet some friends. He is Brazilian and has a valid tourist Visa, and he has visited the country many times before. Those trips would not even be related to what we are doing whatsoever since we are not even going to meet, I live in Ohio and he was planning short trips to Chicago and New York City, so I'm assuming there would be no issue for him to get in the country and leave afterwards, right? For reference, we were planning on submitting the application this month, he would make one trip in May, then the next one in July. After that, he would wait in Brazil until the application finishes processing, he wants to have those trips because he had them planned for a while now.

Thank you to everyone who commented, I really appreciate the help! We have decided to go ahead and perform the Utah online marriage, it went pretty smoothly, and it was surprisingly fast and simple. We already have our marriage certificates emailed to us, and a printed version will arrive in the mail in the next few days. Next week I will be visiting my now spouse in Brazil so we can consummate the marriage, and following that we are gonna prepare for the CR1 Visa submission. Fingers crossed that everything goes well.

Hi @SalishSea Thank you for sharing this, yes that's what I thought as well, we both did a lot of research to plan things right and we also saw many people recommending the utah online marriage and saying it was legit. We thought about asking for an attorney just in case we missed anything or any details we should be aware of, but it only made us more anxious lol. We are trying to go with all of this very carefully, but we would also want to speed it up as much as we can, so if we can make it work through route it would be great for us.

My fiancee and I are trying to go through the CR1 route, and we wanted to make it happen as soon as possible. The Utah Online Marriage seemed to be the quickest way for us to officially marry while he is in Brazil and Im in the US, and then we would physically meet to consummate it, so we can start the CR1 application afterwards. After checking for advice with an attorney however, they didn't recommend using the Utah service saying it's too risky, though they also say they don't have a lot of knowledge about it. That got us a bit worried, we already got the marriage licence and we were just waiting to schedule the ceremony now, but would it be better to not move forward with that route with the risk of being denied in the long wrong? Does anyone have any experience with this? For context, we are in a same-sex relationship (M22 and M32), have been together for 3 years, and we've met in person 3 times before during trips.