Can I use foreign W2's for I-864?

[jcparker 6]

Hi I am a US citizen that has lived in Australia a long time with my husband and I have recently accepted a job offer to go back to Chicago so have filed the I-130.

I was completely oblivious to the fact I still had to file US tax returns whilst working in Australia, so I have recently caught up on the last 3 years and am sending them to the IRS on Monday.

So, when it comes to the I-864, has anyone had any luck using foreign W-2's (or in Australia we call them Group Certificates) alongside a tax return copy? I have them in Jun-July Financial years only, not calendar years.

Or am I better off waiting 20 odd days for IRS to process the returns, and another 10 days to request transcripts so I can avoid submitting W-2's? Then another month has gone by!

Thank you I appreciate your help everyone, Jen

[Jawaree 717]

Speak to an accountant or call IRS for info

[XXXYYYZZZ 20]

My W-2's came out of the Cayman's and I sent this along with my 2011, 2012 tax transcript. I sent a copy of my 2013 return with attached W-2 from the Cayman's with no issues and I sent printed copies of my last three pay stubs from a pdf file.

If your an expat employee this should be pretty easy to understand from respect of the NVC. My income comes from foreign sources and will continue after immigration. My 2013 return was filed at the end of May and the tax transcripts were available online after only 3 weeks. You can now just go to IRS.gov and get an electronic copy your tax transcripts as long as you can prove it's you asking. It is the same document they would mail to you.

Did you apply for an ITIN for your wife when filing the returns?

[Pitaya 2,576]

~Moved fro IR1/CR1 Progress to Taxes & Finances During US Immigration Forum~

~inquiry seems more appropriate for this forum~

[Owen_London 65]

~Moved fro IR1/CR1 Progress to Taxes & Finances During US Immigration Forum~

~inquiry seems more appropriate for this forum~

Can you move it back? This is about what is required for proving financial support to USCIS for the I-864 prior to immigration, not about the finances themselves.

[Owen_London 65]

To the OP - I don't think you have any better option available unless you wait for the transcripts. Personally, I would submit what you have with an explanation in the cover letter. If it's not enough, they will send an RFE requesting the transcripts.

[stephen.marlow 0]

My W-2's came out of the Cayman's and I sent this along with my 2011, 2012 tax transcript. I sent a copy of my 2013 return with attached W-2 from the Cayman's with no issues and I sent printed copies of my last three pay stubs from a pdf file.

If your an expat employee this should be pretty easy to understand from respect of the NVC. My income comes from foreign sources and will continue after immigration. My 2013 return was filed at the end of May and the tax transcripts were available online after only 3 weeks. You can now just go to IRS.gov and get an electronic copy your tax transcripts as long as you can prove it's you asking. It is the same document they would mail to you.

Did you apply for an ITIN for your wife when filing the returns?

This is true, you can just get a transcript from IRS.gov once your late submissions have been processed. Don't worry, we made the same mistake but it's no drama. You will need the transcript as they will not accept and ATO assessment notice or our group certificates/payment summaries. The instructions state:

Do not submit any tax returns that you filed with any foreign government unless you claim that you were not required to file a Federal tax return with the United States government and you wish to rely on the foreign return solely to establish the amount of your income that is not subject to tax in the United States.

[jcparker 6]

This is true, you can just get a transcript from IRS.gov once your late submissions have been processed. Don't worry, we made the same mistake but it's no drama. You will need the transcript as they will not accept and ATO assessment notice or our group certificates/payment summaries. The instructions state:

Do not submit any tax returns that you filed with any foreign government unless you claim that you were not required to file a Federal tax return with the United States government and you wish to rely on the foreign return solely to establish the amount of your income that is not subject to tax in the United States.

Thanks so much for your advice. Can I ask how long it took the IRS to process your tax returns? I'm up to 1 month "still in process"....

Cheers!

[stephen.marlow 0]

Thanks so much for your advice. Can I ask how long it took the IRS to process your tax returns? I'm up to 1 month "still in process"....

Cheers!

It was 30 business day on the dot. It makes me think that each gov dept has a 30 day service standard. But once it's done the transcript is immediatly available and you can get it from the irs website, so that won't make any further "processing" delays.

Hope it comes through soon! This is such a lengthy process.

[stephen.marlow 0]

To the OP - I don't think you have any better option available unless you wait for the transcripts. Personally, I would submit what you have with an explanation in the cover letter. If it's not enough, they will send an RFE requesting the transcripts.

The problem with this advice is that the processing times have blown out to 60 days. So by sending in the wrong info you risk delaying the process another 60 days after the initial 60 days you had to wait for them to review the application. The processing times are out of control. it's madness.

I think It's pretty black and white to me that they want the tax tanscript. Partly, I think so they know the expat has been declaring their foreign earnt income.

The inscructions attached to the i-846 form state:

7. Item Number 14. Federal Income Tax Information.

You must provide either an IRS transcript or a photocopy from your own records of your Federal individual income tax return for the most recent tax year.

Do not submit any tax returns that you filed with any foreign government unless you claim that you were not required to file a Federal tax return with the United States government and you wish to rely on the foreign return solely to establish the amount of your income that is not subject to tax in the United States.

Residence outside of the United States does not exempt U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents from filing a U.S. Federal income tax return.

Edited October 29, 2014 by stephen.marlow

[stephen.marlow 0]

Thanks so much for your advice. Can I ask how long it took the IRS to process your tax returns? I'm up to 1 month "still in process"....

Cheers!

I just had another look at the instructions and it does say:

"...you must file any and all late returns with IRS and attach an IRS-generated tax return transcript documenting your late filing before submitting the I-864 Affidavit of Support. "

This can be interprited a number of different ways, but maybe you can get documentation from the IRS that state they have received your IRS Form 1040 for the 2013 FY and send that in with the application. In this scenario, you should also mention in the cover letter that you filed late and it is processing and that you attached confirmation from the IRS.

Or maybe that statement is saying you have to lodge your lat return and then attach the transcript once the late filed form 1040 is processed. Who knows hahaha