Ask me about US immigration.

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Ask me about US immigration.

Queen Elizatits: May 3, 2005; Haven't you heard?
MARATHONS ARE HARD

Syphilis Fish posted:

I got married in october of last year. I am still waiting for my green card, or even my invitation for an interview. Paid all my dues and am still waiting my rear end off, a year later.

OP; How long is this going to take? It is really frustrating.

drat, which center is processing your application? My initial greencard took 9 months and everyone I have talked to about it told me that was a pretty long time. A couple who started the same time as us but went through a different center had their interview in less than four months.
You haven't heard anything at all?

# ¿ Aug 28, 2012 21:13

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# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 05:43

Queen Elizatits: May 3, 2005; Haven't you heard?
MARATHONS ARE HARD

WetSpink posted:

Do you have to be in the US to apply for Adjustment of Status? Sounds pretty scary risking that multi thousand dollar plane ticket cost for the potential for disappointment. Fiance and I are pretty close to Minimum wage so all of this US Immigration stuff is pretty scary.

Have you had a chance to look over I-134, the Affidavit of Support? I would hate for you guys to have to go through a whole lot of expense and paperwork to find out your fiance doesn't make enough money for you to qualify to immigrate.

# ¿ Nov 9, 2012 22:30

Queen Elizatits: May 3, 2005; Haven't you heard?
MARATHONS ARE HARD

martyrdumb posted:

This isn't a question about me. But I have a friend who is a US citizen. He married a Canadian woman after they had been dating and traveling to spend time with each other over several years. It's been at least 6 months and she is still stuck there waiting on approval. How long is this process supposed to take? I would think since they're married that it would have been over and done with by now...

ha ha haaaa

Our initial application took over a year to process because they changed the center that handled SC midway through.

Good luck to your friend though, I hope it goes quicker for him

# ¿ Dec 29, 2013 04:45

Queen Elizatits: May 3, 2005; Haven't you heard?
MARATHONS ARE HARD

Theparker posted:

What are the benefits, and/or drawbacks of becoming a citizen, over being a permanent resident?

To piggyback on this question can anyone here give me an idea of how hard the citizenship test is? I have my 10 year greencard and I want to become a citizen but I am a pretty terrible test taker and it scares me. English is my first language but I grew up in an area with a high French population plus we took French classes in school starting in grade 3 and didn't take English classes until high school. Anyway my grammar is a terrible Frankenstein of the two languages.

# ¿ Jan 26, 2014 18:07

Queen Elizatits: May 3, 2005; Haven't you heard?
MARATHONS ARE HARD

In case I am way over complicating this the short form of my question is "what is my state of residence if I immigrated to the US by way of marriage to a US citizen?"

He is in the USAF.

We met in Canada while he was temporarily stationed there.

At the time his base was in Charleston SC.

I came to the US several times to visit him after he left Canada.

During one of the visits we decided I would quit my job and move in with him. We decided to get married and did so in Summerville SC. I think this may be relevant as the Military  Spouses  Residency  Relief  Act mentions that the spouse has to have lived in the state they want to claim residency in before they married the service member and South Carolina is the only place we lived together before we were married. My husband owned a home in SC and it has now been sold.

My husband is a Kentucky resident. He has a permanent address there. At one point he and I jointly owned a piece of property in KY, both names on the title, but it has now been sold.

We are currently stationed in California. I do not have a CA drivers license, we do not intend to stay here once he leaves the AF we intend to move back to KY, I have never voted here. We live on a military base.

I am a permanent resident and intend to apply for citizenship eventually.

Up until now we have just filed income taxes jointly. I now wish to register a sole proprietorship. This is where I am getting all confused on. The business is completely online there is no physical store front. Which state do I pay taxes to?

Summary of S. 475, Military  Spouses  Residency  Relief  Act,Public  Law  No. 111�97 posted:

1.Normally a worker will be taxed by the state in which income is earned. Federal laws
now changes the point of taxation for the spouse and the servicemember to the state of
domicile.

2. Under longstanding federal law, a Servicemember with a domicile in a state other than
where he is stationed can�t be taxed on military income earned in that state. However,
the Servicemember still can be taxed by the state on non-military income earned in that
jurisdiction. Thus, even though it seems counterintuitive, this exemption from state
income tax for spouses is broader than the exemption servicemembers themselves
receive.

3. A spouse who moves to a new state, establishes a new residence and a new life there,
would normally become a domiciliary of that new state. The Act allows a servicemember�s spouse to keep a previous domicile (under qualifying conditions enumerated below). The spouse may, however, choose to become a domiciliary of the new state.

And this is the part that confuses me

quote:

A state�s current statutes on domicile are not changed by the Act (except that it prohibits a state from automatically claiming a spouse as its domiciliary merely because she has moved there to be with a servicemember who is under orders to be in the state). Thus:
� Spouses cannot pick and choose their states of domicile.
� The spouse does not �inherit� the domicile of the servicemember upon marriage.
� The spouse cannot �adopt� the domicile of the servicemember -- or any other
domicile.
� The spouse must be able to show that she had the domicile before moving into a
different state, and the spouse must be able to prove that the domicile existed by
going through the new state�s existing list of facts and circumstances, or �proofs of
intention� that will demonstrate a domicile.
� The spouse must have maintained that earlier domicile.
� At a minimum, the spouse must have lived in a state before claiming it as a domicile.
A spouse who has never lived in State X cannot simply tell the employer that she is
now a domiciliary in State X and become exempt from withholding.
� State laws (and regulations now being written) will vary on what circumstances
validate having established a domicile in another state, and what proof is sufficient.

I didn't have a state of residency before we got married, I was an Ontario resident.

I apologize if I have misworded anything, I probably have. I should mention we've spoken with a military lawyer and he wasn't sure. He said if he had to guess I was a KY resident.

# ¿ Apr 15, 2014 03:38

Queen Elizatits: May 3, 2005; Haven't you heard?
MARATHONS ARE HARD

Ashcans posted:

I'd love to help you, but this isn't really an immigration question at all. What the immigration service/process considers your residence has basically no impact at all on what you might consider for your tax reasons or other benefits. Immigration is all federal law, so claiming a specific state over another basically has no meaning.

I would recommend that you speak to a tax attorney or someone who specializes in military matters. I know you said you spoke to a military lawyer, but it might be worth looking around for another one - it's not like marrying abroad is that unusual for military families, someone must have encountered that before.

Well thank you for taking the time to read the post

A tax attorney sounds like a good idea so that'll be the next step

# ¿ Apr 15, 2014 05:44

Queen Elizatits: May 3, 2005; Haven't you heard?
MARATHONS ARE HARD

oishii posted:

Thanks again for the reply Ashcans!

I guess I just hate the typical immigration-is-lovely stuff. Many years ago I was detained for like 3 hours where they questioned me and took my fingerprints and all that jazz (I was a bum living at home and was back and forth visiting my friends in the US a lot, I guess they thought I was working or something?). They didn't find anything and just let me go, but it just stuck with me for a long time.

I haven't had any problems travelling with my F-1 in the past few years though, so perhaps I'm worried for nothing If that's the case then maybe I will go back and apply at the border and get it done with rather than waiting around. Thanks!

Ha border crossing is the best/worst. I got stopped once and I was there about the same time as you. Two agents questioned me for awhile, that was what took the longest, and then they went and searched the car. They came back inside less than five minutes later with my three empty coffee cups and asked if I had drank all of them that night. When I said yes they actually apologized and sent me on my way. I guess I must have looked like I was on drugs or something really I had just been up for 30 hours and was full of caffeine.

# ¿ Jun 21, 2014 23:33

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# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 05:43

Queen Elizatits: May 3, 2005; Haven't you heard?
MARATHONS ARE HARD

TheImmigrant posted:

Also, bear in mind that though this process, the US petitioner will have to execute an Affidavit of Support. In theory, this is a contract with the US government to support the alien for ten years, even if the marriage falls apart in the meantime. In practice, I've never seen it happen, although this doesn't mean it isn't a possibility.

I have no idea why I remember this but it happened to an e/n goon a few years ago. A little different in that the marriage was just so she could get a greencard they weren't actually a couple. She filed for social assistance and the goon was shocked when his tax return was taken by the government.

# ¿ Feb 15, 2015 15:38