Marriage in USA before January 1,20011???

[oceanshark 2]

I am not sure if this is the place to ask this question, but here it goes.

My Hanhua says if we marry before January 1, 2011, we can file married status on taxes and get a Huge refund?

Is this true? I live in Rhode Island. Can we get married by a Justice of the Peace befor January 1? thanks so much:-)

[belinda63 2,981]

I don't know about the huge refund part but anyone married at anytime in 2011, even at 11:59PM on Dec. 31 can file married on their 2011 tax return (unless they also divorced or widowed).

Check with the local court clerk to find out the requirements for getting married in your state but you should have plenty of time to accomplish this. And yes, marriage by anyone qualified to perform the legal service is fine. We found a JP online and used two witnesses from the sheriff's office and it is as legal as a huge church wedding.

[Dave&Roza 748]

It depends. First, if you get married before January 1, 2012 you have a choice. You can claim your new mate as a LPR for the entire year (for tax purposes) and get the standard deduction associated with filing married jointly. However, you now must caim all the income that spouse earned in their home country and convert that to USD. If this benefits you then by all means claim the new spouse as a LPR for the entire year. If the taxes are much higher you might want to not claim them as a LPR and take the earned foreign income credit. For us it was better to claim the wife as a LPR and add her income to mine and get her standard deduction.

You might want to check the IRS website on LPR and marrying a USC.

Good luck.

Dave

Edited November 28, 2011 by Dave&Roza

[Darnell 8,478]

in essence, this is true. there are some caveats, Dave's covered them.

re: when to get married by a JP - uhm - walk into the marriage license office, make a new friend with the CLERK there, and ask about the calendar and the state requirements . If that state requires HER to have a SSN, well she's gotta get an SSN on the 3rd WEEK past the POE date at the local SSA office.

Edited November 28, 2011 by Darnell

[Darnell 8,478]

[sorry, to be more clear]

IF she needs a SSN to get married, the EARLIEST she can get a SSN is on the 3rd week past her POE date.

Ya know, that packet she dropped off at the POE, that's her entire casefile - and

the CBP folk mark her entry into the computer - and

it takes up to two full weeks to for HER to show up in the SAVE database system - and

the SSA clerk will review her record in the SAVE database as the application is being processed, in real time.

No SAVE record? No SSN.

--

Ideally, to save even more time, go back to the SSA office the day after the application was successfully submitted, the SSA clerk will have the SSN number available to give to HER.

--

Good Luck ! Time and Timing is important, here..

[oceanshark 2]

[sorry, to be more clear]

IF she needs a SSN to get married, the EARLIEST she can get a SSN is on the 3rd week past her POE date.

Ya know, that packet she dropped off at the POE, that's her entire casefile - and

the CBP folk mark her entry into the computer - and

it takes up to two full weeks to for HER to show up in the SAVE database system - and

the SSA clerk will review her record in the SAVE database as the application is being processed, in real time.

No SAVE record? No SSN.

--

Ideally, to save even more time, go back to the SSA office the day after the application was successfully submitted, the SSA clerk will have the SSN number available to give to HER.

--

Good Luck ! Time and Timing is important, here..

Ok. I just got off the phone with the IRS. After 2 hours and 4 people, I finally got the answer:-)

They say to marry, file married jointly. Then attach a letter starting. "Hanhu L is a non resident alien Choosing to be treated as a resident alien." This gives her alien staus because it is an exemption. And he says there will defintly be more taxes with held and should be significatly greater that taxes were for just me:-)I always claim 0 exemptions so they hold more money back. So, it is looking good for a December wedding:-)......WHat do you all think?..thanks...Todd

[Darnell 8,478]

And he says there will defintly be more taxes with held and should be significatly greater that taxes were for just me:-)I

This is a troublesome answer, depending on who is speaking (you, the employer, or an IRS agent).

In essence, there are less 'taxes with held' for the NEXT tax season, as you are filling out a new W-4 in 2012.

But for THIS TAX year, 2011,the refund will be larger when you file in 2012, as you had taxes with held for just yerself (one person) and then when you FILE, you will file for TWO PEOPLE - so the amount that 'was with held' within this tax year - your tax liability is lessened by the marriage in 2011. In essence, that's almost one year of taxes with held at the 'single rate' but on the tax return the amount of tax owed will be computed at the 'married filing jointly' rate - which is less tax to be paid (hence a largish refund) .

It's a nice side benefit of the first year o marriage, really.

Good Luck with the forms !

[bigdog 376]

Good Luck with your forms.

[oceanshark 2]

And he says there will defintly be more taxes with held and should be significatly greater that taxes were for just me:-)I

This is a troublesome answer, depending on who is speaking (you, the employer, or an IRS agent).

In essence, there are less 'taxes with held' for the NEXT tax season, as you are filling out a new W-4 in 2012.

But for THIS TAX year, 2011,the refund will be larger when you file in 2012, as you had taxes with held for just yerself (one person) and then when you FILE, you will file for TWO PEOPLE - so the amount that 'was with held' within this tax year - your tax liability is lessened by the marriage in 2011. In essence, that's almost one year of taxes with held at the 'single rate' but on the tax return the amount of tax owed will be computed at the 'married filing jointly' rate - which is less tax to be paid (hence a largish refund) .

It's a nice side benefit of the first year o marriage, really.

Good Luck with the forms !

Thanks Darnell. I appreciate it.When I was talking wiht the county clerk, I did not specifically ask if she needs a social security number to marry. But I clearly explained the situation to her and she said it would easily be done. The emphasis of the conversation was on the documents that need to be Certified and translated. So, do you think thisis true and she wont need SS number for wedding>...thanks...todd

[Darnell 8,478]

No, I claim every state is different on their requirements.

If you won't travel to the clerks office again, would you at least make a phone call?

and then ask:

1. what are the documentation and/or id requirements for a foreign fiance to be married in your county?

2. do you require a foreign fiance to have a SSN to file for a marriage license, or no ?

as far as me thinking 'this is true' - uhm. you got one opinion, one day. Get another one, on another day. I refuse to give opinion on 'true or not' as each state's requirements vary .

or you could get on the county web page (for your county) and read all.

Choose, today-ish, aye?

[Darnell 8,478]

sooooooooooooooooooo

What's the Word ?

[ryna 132]

No, I claim every state is different on their requirements.

If you won't travel to the clerks office again, would you at least make a phone call?

and then ask:

1. what are the documentation and/or id requirements for a foreign fiance to be married in your county?

2. do you require a foreign fiance to have a SSN to file for a marriage license, or no ?

as far as me thinking 'this is true' - uhm. you got one opinion, one day. Get another one, on another day. I refuse to give opinion on 'true or not' as each state's requirements vary .

or you could get on the county web page (for your county) and read all.

Choose, today-ish, aye?

This is just a question for question's sake because I've always wondered why everyone is so worried about the laws concerning marriage where they live.

We could have decided at the last second that we really wanted to be married by Elvis in Las Vegas and it would have been perfectly legal, right? As a K-1 entrant is free to travel within the U.S., why would anyone be forced to get married in their county/state of residence? Since my wife and I are already married, this is just a question but this could have applied to us as we had considered getting married where I grew up, closer to more family and friends, instead of where I (we) live now.

Especially for someone who lives in RI, isn't going somewhere else a very realistic option? Or, is this another case of USCIS ties your hands in ways you'd never dream of?

Edited December 2, 2011 by ryna

[oceanshark 2]

sooooooooooooooooooo

What's the Word ?

The county clerk is saying copies of divorce decree not ok. Need originals. Also, they need a "raised seal" on the documents stating the are "certified", not Notarized! In China, the documents say Certified and then are Notarized, which is the highest standard in China. But my county clerk says it needs to be Certified with a "raised seal".

Then, Hanhua does not have a birth certificate. She does have a notarized document stating something, but I dont have it in front of me.

They also will not accept the translated English because it is written by the Notary. They want to see a seal from a bone fide English translator. And guess what? They will accept the translation document from one of the comapnies they say to use for translation!!!!! Welcome to America Hanhua!

I tried to explain how strict the US government was with the legalities of our documents and that they DID accept them. Why so difficult to get one small town to accept them as well>?

More good news is I wrote out my tale of Hanhau and got my own coverage of nurses, and I got a total of 8 days off!:-) I even attached a picture of her daughter Yuxian, myslef and Hanhua:-) It worked because i got off the week before Christmas to get married:-)/...thanks all....todd

[Darnell 8,478]

Well, what about 'just the passport' for ID ? I say it's time to 'get the boss' at the clerk's office.

Edited December 3, 2011 by Darnell

[yachachiq12 43]

This is just a question for question's sake because I've always wondered why everyone is so worried about the laws concerning marriage where they live.

We could have decided at the last second that we really wanted to be married by Elvis in Las Vegas and it would have been perfectly legal, right? As a K-1 entrant is free to travel within the U.S., why would anyone be forced to get married in their county/state of residence? Since my wife and I are already married, this is just a question but this could have applied to us as we had considered getting married where I grew up, closer to more family and friends, instead of where I (we) live now.

Especially for someone who lives in RI, isn't going somewhere else a very realistic option? Or, is this another case of USCIS ties your hands in ways you'd never dream of?

Yes, you can go wherever you want in the US to get married.