A bizarre situation ever happened before.

[miloud 0]

Hello everyone,

Here is my situation, I have been living with my wife since 2010 and never left the house, we filled taxes together on 2010, 2011, and we filled separately on 2012 as head of household for her status and married separate for my status and still living together until now.

I sent my application for naturalization N-400 and I was interviewed on 02/25/2014 for this case but the officer said that I have to withdraw my case because there is a problem on filling taxes on 2012 that meaning for him (we were unmarried on 2012) and he knows that we still living together. He was suggestion that we have to fix the 2012 as an amendment then to reapply all over for N-400 with another paycheck, so is this right ?and what Im supposed to do right now ?

Thank you very much for your help.

[IcyStar 10]

did the IO give you any kind of paperwork that you ad to assign?

for example,the form which says the decision can not yet be made etc.

how can you possibly withdraw the case?based on what?just filed taxes?well then there should be some kind of documentation on the n-400 withdrawal,did he give anything to you?what happened after that?

[brian and aileen 14]

You should not filed separate knowing you are going to apply for naturalization.. if he said withdraw then that means the decision is not yet made, it is much better than you continue and will be disapprove.

[miloud 0]

Yes he gave me to sign a paper for widthraw he kept one and I kept one because for him it's kind of a mistake when my wife she fill her taxes as head of household meaning for him it's unmarried, I got one minute to choose either widthraw the case and walk away and bye bye $700 or he was saying if You can't get it done during one month that is gonna look bad on the case in the futur as denied so I felt like I was not encourage to be a citizen especially when he was like I can't wait for you because at this moment everybody is filling their taxes so to fix it it takes longer.

I'm really Hirt and lost and I don't know what I'm suppose to do!,,,,

[belinda63 3,039]

You need to file an amended tax return. If you are married you can't have one person file as head of household and the other file as married/separate. You can either file married/joint or each of you file married/separate. Sounds like you were (knowingly or not) trying to game the system and get a bigger refund.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

This sounds somewhat confusing.

When did you get your green card? If you got married in 2012, then you have not been married long enough to file for naturalization through marriage (3 years married; 3 years permanent resident). If you are filing for Naturalization based upon a 5 year permanent residency (green card obtained in 2009), then you don't need to include your wife's income tax returns as part of the petition - only your own.

It does sounds like your wife needs to correct her filing status for 2012, though. Since you were married at the end of 2012, your wife is not able to claim Head of Household status and should have claimed, 'married, filing separately', just like you did. She needs to file an amended return to correct her own personal tax situation, and if you filed for naturalization too early and are not eligible to file until 2015, then you would need to include her tax statements along with yours, and it needs to be correct.

Btw, there are many valid reasons for a couple to file their taxes 'married, filing separately' and it should certainly not impact a Naturalization petition. You are allowed to file taxes in the way that is most financially advantageous to you from the available options, and one of those options is 'married, filing separately'. Filing 'head of household', however, is not a valid option.

So, when did you first get your green card and under what status are you filing for naturalization? The 3 year 'marriage' or the 5 year 'permanent resident'?

[christeen 966]

You need to amend the taxes to reflect married (filing jointly or seperatly) and if tht requires you rosy the govt, you need to arrange to do that... Then you can proceed ith naturalization... And they cannot allow someone to be come a citizen when they are knowingly violating the law by filing improper taxes to evade payment or epreceive a larger refund that they are not entitled to... Straighten it out with the IRS then continue

[IcyStar 10]

Yes he gave me to sign a paper for widthraw he kept one and I kept one because for him it's kind of a mistake when my wife she fill her taxes as head of household meaning for him it's unmarried, I got one minute to choose either widthraw the case and walk away and bye bye $700 or he was saying if You can't get it done during one month that is gonna look bad on the case in the futur as denied so I felt like I was not encourage to be a citizen especially when he was like I can't wait for you because at this moment everybody is filling their taxes so to fix it it takes longer.

I'm really Hirt and lost and I don't know what I'm suppose to do!,,,,

yeah,ok...of course what you both did with taxes wasn't very helpful and definitely wasn't smart,i only hope you had reasons for this...

but i still can not understand why the taxes filed separately was such a serious reason to withdraw the case?didn't you have any other papers to prove marriage union?electric/phone bills,common medical insurance,car/house lease or mortgage,bank account etc...

[belinda63 3,039]

The problem is by filing head of household they are saying they are the only adult who is taking care of dependents....meaning there is only one capable adult in the household (I say it this way because an elderly dementia person (for example) can be considered a dependent). By filing head of household the person is saying they did not live together. It is also an incorrect way to file taxes and could be construed as tax fraud if it is not correct.

Having been a tax preparer previously I have seen people try to do this. They would have a house with two entrances and get the post office to give the same address an A and B designation (A for one door, B for the other) so it appeared to be a multifamily home when in reality it was one house. Then both of them would file head of household and claim some of the children even though they lived in a single family residence. It can be a significant boost to your refund amount filing head of household.

[obormot 0]

The problem is by filing head of household they are saying they are the only adult who is taking care of dependents....meaning there is only one capable adult in the household (I say it this way because an elderly dementia person (for example) can be considered a dependent). By filing head of household the person is saying they did not live together. It is also an incorrect way to file taxes and could be construed as tax fraud if it is not correct.

Having been a tax preparer previously I have seen people try to do this. They would have a house with two entrances and get the post office to give the same address an A and B designation (A for one door, B for the other) so it appeared to be a multifamily home when in reality it was one house. Then both of them would file head of household and claim some of the children even though they lived in a single family residence. It can be a significant boost to your refund amount filing head of household.

? Legally, you CAN live together with another adult and styill file as head of household, as long as (a) you are not officially married, or qualify as such and (b) there is another person (a child, or adult relative) for whom you pay more then 50% of living costs. If that person is your aging parent, s/he does not even need to live with you. So even both adults living together can legally file as heads of household - for example, one claiming he pays more then 50% of living expenses for a child living in their house, and another - that she pays more then 50% of living expences of her mother living elsewhere.

Yes, both cailming you pay more then 50% of living expenses ("costs of keeping up the home") FOR THE SAME HOUSE, even when there are two dependents, is a tax fraud.

The problem of the topic-starter is the combination of head of household and married filing separately statuses.

However, technically, they CAN file like that if

- they are married

- but they lived apart for last 6 month of the year (July till December) - spouse must not have lived in the home at any time during the last six months of the year

- one who files as head of household paid more then 50% of cost of keeping her house, and had a qualifying person (say, minor child) living with her in that house during the year

Though in this case it would be better for another spouse to file as single (married filing separately is usually the worst filing status).

Now, it could be that topic-starter did things correctly, but USCIS officer is not aware of the fact that under some surcumstances what author did is legal. In that case, author should appeal bringing some evidence that his family interpreted the tax code corectly (From IRS? From some tax lawer?)

However, it might still be not good for USCIS if naturalization is based on marriage, as living apart for more then half a year could constitute that they are not in bona fide marriage. They might have valid reasons though - for example if one spouse goes away to study, or work..

[christeen 966]

The problem is they are filing based on marriage, IF they are in fact a married couple living together, then they would not qualify for HoH ... So they can't have their cake and eat it too... Either they were apart and filing HoH (in which they would not qualify for USC based on marriage) or they were together and should have filed their taxes as such...

[obormot 0]

The problem is they are filing based on marriage, IF they are in fact a married couple living together, then they would not qualify for HoH ... So they can't have their cake and eat it too... Either they were apart and filing HoH (in which they would not qualify for USC based on marriage) or they were together and should have filed their taxes as such...

My understanding of tax law is that

(a) they are allowed to file in most advantaged way which applies to them

(b) they can do what they did if they lived apart fro last half a year

Now, they COULD live apart for 6 months and still be in real marriage, good enough to aply for naturalization on the basis of marriage: think, for example, about one spouse posted overseas in military or diplomatic job.

There are legitimate situations which can force people on bona fide marriage to live apart for 6 months. But then for USCIS purposes they must have good evedence of those legitimate sircumstances.

[longtruelove 11]

ooo since we have some tax experts here i have a question .. currently i file for HOH but when i get married most likely later this year he probably wont get his employment authorization till the end of the year. Then next year when i file will i have to file married jointly or can i still do HOH since he probably may not have earned income?

miloud,sounds like the CO suspected you were doing tax fraud and recommended you correct your and your wife filing situation before you get declined and possibly reported to the IRS.

[christeen 966]

My understanding of tax law is that

(a) they are allowed to file in most advantaged way which applies to them

(b) they can do what they did if they lived apart fro last half a year

Now, they COULD live apart for 6 months and still be in real marriage, good enough to aply for naturalization on the basis of marriage: think, for example, about one spouse posted overseas in military or diplomatic job.

There are legitimate situations which can force people on bona fide marriage to live apart for 6 months. But then for USCIS purposes they must have good evedence of those legitimate sircumstances.

Yes, this is definitely true as my husband and I did not live together for the first 7 years of our marriage (he was a seaman) however... I believe the IO believed there was a tax fraud issue and since the applicant did not appear to have justification for the HOH filing or for a seperation , the recommendation that amended tax returns be done before processing was the result...

[obormot 0]

You might be able to file as head of household, if you are married to non-resident alien. See here:

http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/U.S.-Citizens-and-Resident-Aliens-Abroad---Head-of-Household

(I do not remember whether it applies in any case, or only if you lived abroad - I guess should be in any case)

However, if your spouse did not have any income to report during the year, then filing married filing jointly is usually better for you then filing as head of household

As for the main topic of the tread - honestly, a laymen person, without too much tax and general law experience, with probably not perfect English, in a stressful situation of the interview, is offered to make a complicated yes/no decision on the spot in 1 minute about whether to withdraw the application.. Based on the suspicion(!) of the immigration officer that he either probably did tax fraud or probably was in fact separating from his wife. I find the whole story unsettling. To me it sounds as if he was simply intimidated into withdrawing.

Now, it might be that his situation is clean, or it might be that suspicions of the immigration officer are correct, but that is a different story.