Bona Fide Marriage Evidence and Taxes

[YKB 0]

Hi everyone,

I am gathering the evidence for bona fide marriage for form I-130 ( I am the petitioner residing in the US), and I as I was looking at my 2012 and 2013 tax returns where I filed "married filing jointly" I noticed I put my husband's occupation as unemployed.. I honestly did not even think that would be a problem (til now) since he doesn't work in the US.. But he does work in a family business in Mexico where he gets paid in cash not checks so I just figured it would be a pain in the *** to gather evidence of employment and such for the IRS...

In the form I-130 I did write where he works.. Do you guys think that it would be a problem if I submitted the tax returns as evidence since it says there he is unemployed?? I know its stupid of me but please help...

[mezou0028 4]

what they ask exactly ....

for me i sent wedding honeymoon photos ...chats ...letters from our family....then you will be fine

[Ed and Gina 45]

You can file married filing jointly - since your husband's income is not reportable...and in another country...he does not owe taxes in the US. So, that shouldn't be an issue. Do you have the 2013 transcript? That you indicated that he works on your I-130 - as you should have - shouldn't be an issue. As far as the IRS is concerned, you don't have to report his income because he is not a citizen and his income is not being used to support the household. Though, the CO at the Embassy might ask about the "discrepancy."

Maybe someone else has another thought on this.

[Darnell 8,479]

if you wanted to follow up and be 'more correct' when filing the amended tax return,

you could include form F-2555 or F-2555EZ (your choice) on your foreign spouse.

[YKB 0]

Thank you all for your quick responses!

I talked to someone who was in the same position as me and has successfully received her husband's visa about this and she said that if they were to ask about it at the time of the interview I could always say that work is very slow (which is true) and at the time I was filing for taxes he was not working. And like Ed and Gina said:

...since your husband's income is not reportable...and in another country...he does not owe taxes in the US. So, that shouldn't be an issue ...

With that, I'm just gonna go ahead and submit the evidence as is and let's see what happens!

Ed and Gina, what do you mean if I have the 2013 transcripts??

[Ed and Gina 45]

Thank you all for your quick responses!

I talked to someone who was in the same position as me and has successfully received her husband's visa about this and she said that if they were to ask about it at the time of the interview I could always say that work is very slow (which is true) and at the time I was filing for taxes he was not working. And like Ed and Gina said:

With that, I'm just gonna go ahead and submit the evidence as is and let's see what happens!

Ed and Gina, what do you mean if I have the 2013 transcripts??

When you go onto the IRS website, you can download you tax transcripts. Once you've filed taxes and the IRS has accepted your filing, they will provide a transcript of your filing. When going to the interview, however, have both the transcript as well as the 1040 and W2s. Some interviewers don't realize that the transcript is a "stand alone" document indicating that your taxes for that year were PAID IN FULL or that you owed nothing...nonetheless, the CO's at the embassy seem to be rather clueless about that! Good thing that I had Gina take both the transcript as well as the 1040 with W2's. They didn't want to see the transcript...which is a bonafide document!!! Amaziing.

You shouldn't have any problems. Mostly what they look at is...YOUR income and can you support the beneficiary? That's their main concern. They look at the bottom line. After the interview, they will look at things more closely. Seems bassakwards, if you ask me. But, it seems that how it goes. So, even after the interview...when they could say "Approved"...it's possible to get stuck in Administrative Processing Limbo! You never know. One young woman waited more than 2 months...before she got the ISSUED notification from CEAC. Crazy stuff...and she had a "clean" petition. And no 221(g)...(request for more info). So, you never know. Right now, Gina and I are in limbo waiting the Embassy! Sooooo frustrating.

Enough about our troubles...I think that you should be fine. If they have a question...they'll be asking.

Wis you and yours the best of luck!!!

Ed

[YKB 0]

Ok thank you Ed I'll make a note of those tax transcrips and 1040 forms.

Now my question is: am I gonna have to provide proof that I am able to support my husbandat the time of the interview at the consulate?? Because I thought that that would be a separate step/form that we would need to submit after the approval of the interview.. Also, I'm honestly not sure if my income will be enough to support my husband here in the US under USCIS rules.. I was gonna have my dad be our sponsor if that was the case though, so should I be prepared with a letter from him when we go to our interview at the consulate???

[Darnell 8,479]

all of the paper pushing that you've done,

and in the end -

the approval for the visa is done on and after interview day,

where

the visa application (DS-260) is reviewed and the affidavit of support (I-864) is adjudicated,

all at the IV Unit in CDJ.

Sure, you pushed things in to NVC and USCIS, but in the end, it's the IV Unit that makes the final decision, final adjudication, approve or deny.

NVC does not adjudicate documents - they check for completeness only.