Just wanted to pass this along for those who are not familiar with the U.S. tax law.

In general, if you are a U.S. citizen and you are married to someone from another country who is still residing in that country (perhaps since his/her visa has not yet been approved), it is possible for you to file your 2006 income tax return jointly with your spouse (assuming you were married as of the end of the year).

What to do:

1) You and your spouse must make a written election for the non-resident alien spouse to be treated as a U.S. resident for tax purposes. Both spouses must sign the document and it must be submitted with your tax return.

2) Since your non-resident alien spouse will not have a social security number yet, you will need to file a W-7 along with your 2006 tax return. The W-7 is an application for a taxpayer indentification number. The W-7 is completed and signed by the non-resident alien spouse (not the U.S. citizen) and must be accompanied by appropriate proof (see W-7 instructions). [By the way, if your spouse is already in the U.S., but is not yet eligible to apply for a social security number, he or she may also complete a W-7 and file it with the 2006 federal income tax return]

Please keep in mind a few important things:

1) Filing jointly with a non-resident alien spouse MAY NOT necessarily minimize your tax because you will both be taxed on your world-wide income.

2) You should refer to IRS Publication 519 (U.S. tax guide for aliens). It is available on the IRS web site. For specific information on treating a nonresident spouse as a resident, see page 10 of the publication. The W-7 and related instructions are also available on the IRS web site.

3) While you can file jointing with a non-resident spouse, you cannot claim a non-resident relative as a dependent (see publication 501 - Exemptions, Standard Deductions, and Filing Information). FOr example, if your wife and step-child are still residing in another country awaiting a visa, you can file jointly with your wife, but you could not claim your step-child as a dependent, even if you met the standard dependency tests. The step-child must either be a U.S. citizen or a U.S. resident to qualify.

4) This is general information. Your tax situation may be different. Do your homework and consider contacting a professional.

5) If you are visiting your spouse for the holidays, you may want to consider having him/her sign the election and the W-7...so it is readily available to you when you file your 2006 tax return in early 2007.

Good luck.

Mike

Nothing better than using an immigrant to your own pocket's advantage.

hi
the way i would look at it ..its not lining their own pocket as such but probably be helping with the many payments that comes along with the applications and the move to the states..if your married before your visa journey is at an end aren't you are apart of that persons life...

just my opinion ...

kath

My husband filed it jointly this year and I am still not living in the US. We got married last year and I am dependent on him.

I think this also helps proving that you are a real couple. We never thought of any benefit it could bring us.

Alix

Mike, your info is right on with what my accountant advised.

"Nothing better than using an immigrant to your own pocket's advantage."

I find this to be a very disappointing response. Since this person has no time-line, one has to wonder if he or she has even experienced the visa process and the issue of waiting for your spouse to join you in the U.S.

This is not a case of using an "immigrant" to your advantage. This is a matter of two people who are legally married filing their tax return in the most advantageous way. I highly doubt anyone would marry a non-U.S. citizen solely for the tax benefit. And since there is a marriage, the financial advantage benefits both parties, not just the U.S. citizen.

The purpose of my post was to try to help folks who might be in this situation who may not have otherwise known the tax laws related to a non-resident alien spouse. Folks like us incur signifcant expense to file visa applications, gather documents, communicate with our spouses, and travel to our spouse's country for visits. We do it for love, not for a tax refund. However, given the expenses involved, it is nice that we can offset a little bit of the cost through legitimate tax savings.

Never fails - try to do something of benefit to others....and there's a cynic out there trying to make it into something it is not.

dmartmar,

A spouse is a spouse, whether they're an immigrant, a pending immigrant, or native born.

Yodrak

DMARTMAR I thought you had crawled back under your stone..... when will you stop with all the crap???? it really is time for you to take your bitterness somewhere else....

dmartmar is just p'd off because he didnt have the opportunity to get the tax benefit before he found he was the one being used

I've been looking into doing this, that is filing jointly with my wife who still lives in the Philippines. I was wondering however, what happens when she gets here and is able to get a SSN. The instructions says not to get the TIN if you qualify for a SSN. Also an alien may not possess both a SSN and a TIN. When she receives her SSN what happens to the TIN?

Yes, your wife will not be able to apply for a social security card until she arrive in the U.S. and get her EAD as part of the AOS process. Once that occurs, you will no longer use the taxpayer ID number that is issued. Technically, I believe you can no longer use the TIN as soon as your wife becomes eligible to receive a SS#.

just curious on my pay stubs i still have that i am single.. is this the right thing to do??
im so lost with tax law and i read that if your spouse is an alien or whatever to leave it single.. should i have it as married?
and my husband lives in mexico now so im planning on filing jointly again this year as i did last year.

Dmartmar I am getting so tired of your constant negative and bitter posts.
It is starting to border on trollish behaviour. Honestly, at least some other trolls make me laugh
once in a while though I am not condoning any troll.
But you really like to stir it around !
The tax info was very informative.
You accuse posters in almost all posts of "using" their So and I think you have a phobia
of getting used yourself.
You are not the only one who was ever used or hurt and noone needs your
spewing of negativity here.
So you had a bad experience and got hurt.....get over it !
Forgive and forget and put a smile on your face....life is too short to be an old grump.
How about focusing your energy on spreading some cheer here once in a while.

Unless you make the election that I mention above, you cannot file "married filing jointly" with you non-resident alien spouse. In that case, perhaps you should complete another W-4 with your payroll folks and check the box that says somethink like "married, but withhold at the single rate." That way, you are on record as being married, yet you are getting withholind at the rate for a single person.

On the other hand, if you are now going to file "married filing jointly" but you have had tax withheld at the "single" rate, you would normally be due for an above-average refund this year (because you "over-withheld").

IN regards to your paystub it has nothing to do with your working status. It's called EXEMPTIONS< I continue working as single even though I got married, the point is the IRS will deduct a higher Fed and Local taxes from your paycheck. you can even work as married and get taxe taken off as a single. You can talk to a CPA and he will let you know what's the best status that would fit your particular need, everybody needs is different

Single/O
you pay higher taxes

Married/0

You get a little break

If you have a house and you know you are paying lot of interest and property taxes and your deduction is going to be really high, instead of lending IRS your money for the whole year INTEREST FREE

You can increased your exemptions

Married/2 exemptions ( Based on your CPA calculation) that way you can most of your money upfront instead of waitng for April 15.

I have a Thai Wife and am waiting for the interview in Bangkok.
As I was married in 2004, I filed my taxes listing her as a wife.
Received the usual denial saying I needed a notarized copy of her passport. She went to the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, had it notarized ($40U.S.$) and fed Ex'd it to me.
Filed the documents, and in September, rather than paying $200 in taxes, I received a refund of $750.

It works well...

Another twist that comes up every time this subject is discussed: If you are legally married, you are no longer legally eligible for a filing status of "single" on your tax returns, regardless of where your spouse lives or what his/her immigration status is. Typically, your only choices are to file as "Married filing jointly", or "Married filing separately". A few may qualify as "head of household". Note that you'll probably eventually have to show your tax returns to the USCIS, so don't get yourself in a situation where you would have to explain a "single" tax return when you're trying to demonstrate to the USCIS that you are a bona fide married couple. It could get you into trouble with both the IRS and the USCIS.

Filing as "married filing separately" is quite a bit more expensive than filing as "single" in many situations. Welcome to the marriage penalty that politicians talk about. But if your spouse has little income subject to US taxation, either because he/she doesn't make much, or because it's foreign income that can be excluded, then filing a joint return is probably a significant saving over a separate return.

As always, run the numbers yourself and/or seek competent professional advice for your own personal situation.