Hi, I am a US citizen and after spending 2 years working abroad in Hong Kong while my boyfriend is a citizen there, I decide it was time to come back to my life.

My boyfriend came with me to the US on a B1 B2 visa, and we decided to get married Oct 2007. We've handed papers off to lawyers to get his status change and working permits and appropriate visas while we patiently wait for the whole immigration process.

Its tax season, and we're looking to file joint taxes, and were told to get an ITIN # by applying the W7 form.

Since, the paperwork is with the lawyers and we haven't gotten any confirmation#'s, this leaves my husband in limbo status with an expired tourist visa. Is it OK for us to apply for the W7 or would it give chance for my husband to be deported due to his expired visa?

Thanks..

*completely freaked out***

You can file a petition for Alien Relative for your new spouse.
This is one way your Fiancé to the U.S. to reside permanently is to marry and then file a Petition for Alien Relative. You can marry in the U.S. if your fiancé is already in the country with some other lawful status. Most Petitions for Alien Relative are filed with a USCIS office in the United States Your spouse may also be able to apply to become Lawful Permanent Resident at the same time.

Here is the content of the form you will be asked to fill out for the Alien Relative status



Petition for Alien Relative (I-130)

I am a U.S. Citizen or a Legal Permanent Resident (LPR)

I am already married

My spouse and I were both physically present at the wedding ceremony and the marriage was consummated

I did not become a Lawful Permanent Resident through a previous marriage to a citizen or Lawful Permanent Residence, or
1. I did gain LPR status this way but it has been more than five years since I became an LPR, or
2. I can establish that the previous marriage was not entered into for the purpose of evading immigration laws, or
3. My previous marriage was terminated by the death of my spouse

My spouse was not in exclusion, deportation, removal, rescission or judicial proceedings regarding his or her right to remain in the United States when the marriage took place, or
1. My spouse has been involved in such proceedings but has resided outside the United States for a two-year period after the date of the marriage.
2. My spouse has not been legally determined to have conspired or attempted to enter into marriage for the purpose of evading immigration law

This may be simpler than changing the Visa. I am not an immigration attorney, so you might want to ask your attorney if this is possible.

If this is not possible than I would file for an extension on the B-1 visa as it can be extended for 6 months at a time. Once the extension is filed and you have verification you can file the form for the ITIN.

Wow thanks or the reply.

The issue that's confusing is that, our lawyer initially told us back in Oct after we were married to not have to worry about the travel visa expiring since we were already married and were ready to have the I-130 done. Due to my student status the previous yrs, our lawyer suggested that I filed for my taxes first so that my financial standing looked better (since I am now full time employed).

So we had put the petition docs on hold and waited until January for my W2 to file for taxes. Then my accountant suggested us to do a joint income tax, and gave us a W7 form to get an ITIN for my husband, yet meanwhile the I-130 is still on hold, and his B1 B2 Visa has expired for 2 months now.

I've read that its impossible to extend the visa now that its expired. Would this just be easy that I file for my own taxes without my husband so we can move forward with the I-130 instead? Or would the joint tax be crucial?

Thanks again.

What you could do is file taxes separately although you will not get the married deduction. Than after you get the paperwork done you could revise the return and file jointly on a revised return.

Shirley

Hmm... that sounds like a good plan actually.

Thanks a lot Shirley!

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