DCF Montreal Interview- Please help- Tax returns, domicile. Fairly urgent.

[LimboSage 0]

My wife is American, and has been living with me in Edmonton since September 2007. Before that she lived in San Diego. We are going DCF for me to move down there with her, and our interview date is Dec. 2 (though with my medical exam being Nov. 26, I'm leaving fairly soon!). We have a major problem:

1) Considering she wasn't making any American income, she didn't file in 2008 with the IRS (though she has filed for 2006 and 2005). I realize that the I-864 form lists this as a requirement, but due to her immigration to Canada not being complete, she didn't even work in Canada for most of 2008. Her total earnings for the year were 13,900, while I, meanwhile, was a student and my income was next to nothing (we lived off my student loans). Her father is going to be a household sponsor, and he makes WELL over the required salary, so we're good on that front. If we provide transcripts for her father for 2006, 2007 and 2008, and for 2005, 2006, 2007 for her, along with a written explanation for while we don't have 2008 returns (and perhaps we photocopy her 2008 forms that she sends in beforehand-- obviously we won't have time to get the returns or transcripts before then), what are our chances? Is this an automatic denial? What are my best options here?

We also have concerns on the domicile (we'll be using her Dad's address, though we do intend to live there, and he's already a landlord so he can draft a lease), but there have been lots of threads on that, so I won't ask again here.

Thank you for any responses in advance!

[Malrothien 6]

Hi there, congrats on the interview.

You need to have your wife file the returns ASAP. Like, today. If she had no income, they're simple to file. Get them sent out and keep a copy with a receipt of the package you sent to the IRS to show that you've filed them. Otherwise, she needs to write a letter stating why she has not filed taxes for 06/07 with corresponding section of the IRS tax code showing why she was not required to file.

As far as the domicile - do you already have the lease agreement with your father-in-law? You NEED that for the interview otherwise you will walk away with a denial pending more information. What else do you have to prove domicile?

[Chica Yeyé 41]

Fast and furious:

1. File late tax returns. IRS is relatively nice on this with USC abroad.

2. Show up with on I-864 for your wife; and another I-864 for father in law (a lot of folks think they only need one).

3. Have that lease, original and a copy at the interview.

4. Have you been able to open a bank account in the US? Do you have a driver's license? Are you registered to vote?

[trailmix 77]

Hi and welcome,

I'm a bit confused by your statement about the tax return for 2008. I understand that she has filed 2006 and 2007 already. You say:

"along with a written explanation for while we don't have 2008 returns (and perhaps we photocopy her 2008 forms that she sends in beforehand-- obviously we won't have time to get the returns or transcripts before then), what are our chances? Is this an automatic denial? What are my best options here"?

Does this mean that you are now going to file the 2008 U.S. return and you intend to take the 1040 and any slips to the interview in lieu of a transcript from the IRS? If so, that will probably be ok. I'm just unsure whether you are saying you are going to file 2008 beforehand or not? You do need to do that btw - and there is no value in taking her 2005 return.

Edited November 17, 2009 by trailmix

[LimboSage 0]

Thanks for the replies!

To answer, yes, we're going to mail out her tax forms (the 1040 and the 2555) on Thursday, making photocopies of them before sending, and sending them registered mail with a receipt. I hope this will be okay, and if not at the very least they'll just require me to send the transcripts when we get them (they told me 4-6 weeks at the IRS).

For domicile, we are going to have a written lease from her father, as well as a signed note from her father stating that she's visited the US often during her two years in Canada and has spent weeks and months long periods staying at the domicile, and that it was always discussed/known that she'd be moving back ASAP. On top of that, I'll take the deed for the car she owns with California plates, that we intend to drive down for our move and be our primary vehicle, we'll get an official letter from her HR person at work stating that she has resigned from her job in Canada for the stated reasons of moving back to California, a letter from our landlord stating that we have terminated our month-to-month lease effective Dec. 31, 2009 (we plan to move in early Jan), and she still has a California driver's licence that hasn't expired (though I may only be able to take photocopies, as she needs it to drive. If this isn't sufficient we might also be able to get her former employer in California to re-offer her her old job in writing, and also get her Dad to open a joint bank account with her name.

HOWEVER, we just got thrown for another loop. Prior to getting the letters stating our interview date, I sent Montreal an email stating that we had yet to receive a date despite that we were past the time frame we should have. A few days later we received notice that our date was Dec. 2, which gave us only a few weeks notice. But we made it work- purchased plane tickets, booked a hostel, scheduled my doctor's appointment, booked time off work, all that. Well TODAY we received an email back, stating that since my previous email said we had not received notice, that they would reschedule the interview to Dec. 21 so as to give us more time to prepare. So now we're stuck with all these plans for the 2nd and my interview is on the 21st!

On one hand, maybe this would be enough time to get the transcripts for the 2008 taxes (though, probably not). But mostly, it's just very, very frustrating. I don't know if it's possible to have them move the interview back to the 2nd. This is all quite confusing.

Thank you again!

[trailmix 77]

You're welcome and I can see how that kind of puts a wrench in the works when you are planning for the 2nd! Can't hurt to email them back, explain your situation and ask for the 2nd.

Your proof of reestablishing domicile seems really solid by the way.

Taking the 1040 plus income slips shouldn't really be too much of a problem.

There is another VJ member, Rod James, he is also going to present just the 1040s and slips - which would be a handy reference for you - however his interview date is also the 21st! In Rod's thread, linked below, another VJ member who recently interviewed in Montreal and took just the returns posted as well (they accepted them no problem)

Rod's thread is here:

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...t=0&start=0

Edited November 18, 2009 by trailmix

[LimboSage 0]

Thanks Trailmix, you're a godsend.

Though now it's getting even more complicated: my wife and I were married in dec. 26, 2006, we lived apart until she moved up with me to Canada Aug. 2007. My wife's mother took care of her tax returns for both 2006 and 2007 by taking them to a professional. She was a student both of those years, and my mother-in-law declared my wife as a dependent even though we were already married, and filed the form in 2007 saying that my wife didn't make enough money to have to file (obviously, since I was living in Canada at the time, we filed taxes separately). So now I don't know if these were even done correctly (if she even filed as being MARRIED, for starters). So there might be no transcript for 2007, either (and we'd have trouble getting any earnings statements proving her 2007 income, at this point). We can get photocopies of the forms that were filed for both years, but beyond that I'm very confused at the moment. We're going to call the IRS tomorrow morning and try to get more information.

If these were done incorrectly, should we refile for 2007 (and possibly 2006, as we were married that December), make photocopies, send via registered mail as per the 2008 filing, and bring along photocopies of what was filed in 2006/2007 so as to explain our situation and the misunderstanding? I fear that this will all add up and result in an instant rejection. But I'll continue to hope for the best.

Thank you so much.

[trailmix 77]

If they look at them closely enough they might wonder why she filed single (if she did) - so it's worth correcting. Really what they are looking for is support - dollars, not necessarily 'proof of relationship'.

It all depends what you find out.

- If a return was filed, but as 'single', you might want to amend the return to 'married filing separately'.

- If your wife made very very little money in those two years, she may not even be required to file a return. The 1040 for each year states what the income must be before you are required to file (think in terms of like $3000).

Anyway, you will find out more tomorrow!

[LimboSage 0]

So it looks like we'll have to file my wife's taxes for both 2007 and 2008, now, and possibly amend the 2006 return. But we'll make photocopies of everything and do the registered mail thing. I'm hoping it won't be a problem considering my wife won't be accounting for any of the sponsorship money (we just got the photocopies of my father-in-law's last three years worth of tax returns, and they'll more than cover the sponsorship).

They also moved the interview date back to Dec. 2, so that's good.

I'm feeling really strongly about our domicile case, too, thanks largely to my father-in-law. On top of sponsoring me, he's faxed us a very official lease to sign, with California Association of Realtors letter head and all (like I said, he owns rental property), and he's vice president of a company, and he's getting someone from HR to fax my wife a written job offer. On top of that, he was able to re-register my wife's car in California under her name, and at the domicile address, so on top of having the title for the car, I'll also have photocopies of the registration papers (and her driver's license is still valid). I figure those three things, along with the letters I mentioned from our landlord and her current employer stating that she's terminated the lease and handed in her resignation for the purposes of moving, SHOULD be enough to prove domicile. I mean, is there anything else we could do?

I'm starting to feel a little more hopeful. I just hope the tax thing doesn't prove too much of a problem.

[trailmix 77]

Your proof of reestablishing domicile looks good.

Just want to make sure your father in law, he faxed you his tax returns - if they are the actual 1040 (rather than a transcript) be sure to get copies of his income slips as well.

Glad to hear you got the 2nd as well!

[Hany S 0]

For Wht i Understand about I-864 , If u r father`s in low Annual Income is well above the 125% poverty line then u dnt need at all t shw ur wife`s tax of 2008 but she still needs to file her own I- 864 with explain of why not filling the 2008 tax .... What i mean that if one Ur sponsers got Well Annual Incme then dnt worry about the other .. and ask more plz coz maybe am wrng about it

[trailmix 77]

The primary (main) sponsor is always the U.S. citizen spouse (when we are talking about a Husband and Wife). They must complete an entire I-864 - even if they have a joint sponsor. Therefore they must have tax returns filed for the last 3 years and they must present the last return to NVC, or the consulate in the case of DCF.

The only reason the primary sponsor would not have to present a return is if they had little to no income in that year.

Edited November 21, 2009 by trailmix

[LimboSage 0]

Interview was today, tax thing didn't even get a second look from them, they were perfectly happy with the photocopy of the 1040 and 2555 that we sent last week--they didn't even want the registered mail receipt.

Anyway, everything went off without a hitch! They said I will be receiving my passport and visa within a week or so.

Thanks everyone! Especially Trailmix. You were very helpful.