Recent content by Sundar_vaidya

You hit the nail on the head. The spouse can be considered as resident alien for tax purposes only if the other person is a resident alien or US citizen. I also filed 8825 (?) for foreign income exclusion as my wife was working in India. Sundar P.S. I used Tax Cut (H&R Block product)...

ITIN number is for people who can not get SS number. In the present case, your wife can get ITIN number as spouse of resident alien or US citizen. Please read publication 519. It is long but gives detail on the situation discussed in this thread. I read that publication and others before...

When you file jointly, your spouse is not a dependent. There is no criteria of staying together. I read IRS publication last year for my case. My wife was still in India and based on my understanding of regulation, it was ok. They have given specific cases where the person does not reside with...

Well, technically (not that it is followed in US consulate in India), spouse of US citizen should not be barred from tourist visa. Is there any rule barring them? I remember having similar discussion on Britishexpat, I will try to see if I can dig up the answer given by a lawyer in that forum...

One can not use Green Card instead of Tourist Visa. Also, one needs to maintain residence to have GC. This may mean filing for taxes, etc. I am not sure if the reasoning given by you would be accepted by USCIS. Sundar

The reason is that the wife will live in the US. That is the reason one applies for green card. If there is no intention of living in the US, why apply for one? So US govt assumes that the person is planning to live in the US when they apply for CR-1. Hence, the need for I-864 Please keep...

Current employment is not required as long you can show enough assets to be above 125% poverty line. Sundar

Yes, you can file jointly. But you have to do the following (1) A letter from your wife saying that she wants to be treated as resident alien for tax purposes. (2) YOu have to report her income from India in your return. But you have upto $80k as foreign income exclusion. So you come out...

Packet 3 came through regular mail, no courier. Sundar

Venkat, It takes at least 3-4 weeks to get packet 3 from chennai consulate after you submit I-130 in Delhi. Also, it took my wife 4 months after sending packet 3 in to get intimation for interview date. We filed on May 10, 2004. We got packet 3 on June 1, 2004. We sent it back on...

Hi Syed, The approval time depends on the service centers. Just a quick check on all four service centers tell that they are approving people who applied in 1999 (texas) to 2001 (vermont). So you are looking at 2-3 years for approval. I am guessing that they do not give high priority...

Unfortunately, No. The fiancee visa or K3 visa is for US citizen only. The only option for him to come to US on H1 or L1 visa. Otherwise he has to wait in Canada until I-130 approved and the priority date becomes current. It is taking anywhere between 5-7 years. Sundar

I think the application goes to NVC. I think they send some form to you and when you send the form back, they forward the case to the local consulate. So you never really send anything directly to the consulate. Also, the 60 day requirement is for USCIS, not consulate. Sorry I do not know the...

I went through DCF in New Delhi and I thought I will put my $0.02 on this topic. Our priority date was May 10, 2004 based on when we applied at New Delhi. My wife sent her packet 3 on June 2, 2004. We have not been scheduled for interview as yet at Chennai Consulate. After trying to figure...

No..they did not confirm Oct interview. All they said was most probably in October. Who knows what that means exactly. Sundar