CR1-Visa or K-1 + Medical questions

[dillygoose 21]

Disclaimer: I'm not a tax professional.

I'm just a regular person. Small business owner (3 years) and self employed (10 years) so I have some experience with the whole paying taxes thing - its not so straight forward for those of us who aren't the single employer/salaried.

But that's why its important to get someone who is well versed in tax law AND a bonus if they have expertise in the freelance field.

Don't know where your fiancé lives, but do some research. I'd avoid the HR Block type places. There are accountants that specialize in self employed filers. That will be a good resource for now and years to come.

[JustShootIt 2]

Disclaimer: I'm not a tax professional.

I'm just a regular person. Small business owner (3 years) and self employed (10 years) so I have some experience with the whole paying taxes thing - its not so straight forward for those of us who aren't the single employer/salaried.

But that's why its important to get someone who is well versed in tax law AND a bonus if they have expertise in the freelance field.

Don't know where your fiancé lives, but do some research. I'd avoid the HR Block type places. There are accountants that specialize in self employed filers. That will be a good resource for now and years to come.

Thank you. We've spoken and he's going to get onto it right away. He has had on the book jobs in the past 3 years also and he will file for. Year 2 and 3 he may not have the income requirement, but for year 1 he is looking to see what he can do. Hopefully his friend can come up with some creative accounting. Will this matter much? And like I said, he will be on the books, receiving weekly pay stubs and w-2 at the end of the tax year from now on.

He's told me that one of his close friends (who is also a cpa) who I have met would be willing to co-sponsor if he can't figure this all out. He is a business owner so earns way more than enough. His taxes are all in order (minus the off the books bit I guess) Would this be acceptable to immigration do you think?

Edited March 21, 2016 by JustShootIt

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

Let me give you some London consulate specific information I know to be true.

For a fiance visa (k1) the affidavit of support is Form I-134. You take it to your visa interview which is months from when you file the first paperwork. London does NOT require a tax return with the I-134 as long as the income is proven in another way. So you could get a fiance visa in London with a letter from the employer stating his current income and his pay slips could be backup.

When you adjust status from the K1 or even VWP, there is another affidavit of support Form I-864. It has very strict rules, one of which is tax returns or a valid legal reason he did not have to file. So while you could get by getting a fiance visa and moving to the U.S. to marry without his 2015 tax return, you could not apply for your greencard until he gets straight with tax returns.

If you marry first and choose the spouse visa (CR1) path, the I-864 is the affidavit of support which requires tax returns. London does require it for spouse visas.

Concerning payment under the table, the employer is equally breaking the law by not reporting the income. They call it "under the table" because it is hiding taxable income from the government. They both know they are breaking the law.

If the boss pays him as "employee", the boss has to do more accounting paperwork like hold out taxes, Social Security, and Medicare payments. And the boss has to pay for half of your friend's Social Security and Medicare contributions. He would issue a W2 at the end of the year showing all that accounting.

If the boss pays him as a "contractor", then he doesn't have to hold out taxes, and the other. He issues a 1099-MISC at the end of the year showing how much was paid to your friend in wages. That makes your friend self-employed to the IRS. He should be paying in to the IRS quarterly himself since the boss isn't holding out something from each paycheck toward his tax bill. And because he is self employed, he has to pay self-employment tax which is his Social Security and Medicare contributions. He pays 100% of that as self-employed. His boss contributes nothing when your friend is a contractor, not an employee.

The boss is probably cheating on his own business tax returns by not reporting all of his own business income as well as your friend's wages. This will not likely be solved easily because it is not just your friend's issue, but his employer's as well.

Edited March 21, 2016 by Nich-Nick

[Ms Hogan 295]

Let me give you some London consulate specific information I know to be true.

For a fiance visa (k1) the affidavit of support is Form I-134. You take it to your visa interview which is months from when you file the first paperwork. London does NOT require a tax return with the I-134 as long as the income is proven in another way. So you could get a fiance visa in London with a letter from the employer stating his current income and his pay slips could be backup.

When you adjust status from the K1 or even VWP, there is another affidavit of support Form I-864. It has very strict rules, one of which is tax returns or a valid legal reason he did not have to file. So while you could get by getting a fiance visa and moving to the U.S. to marry without his 2015 tax return, you could not apply for your greencard until he gets straight with tax returns.

If you marry first and choose the spouse visa (CR1) path, the I-864 is the affidavit of support which requires tax returns. London does require it for spouse visas.

Concerning payment under the table, the employer is equally breaking the law by not reporting the income. They call it "under the table" because it is hiding taxable income from the government. They both know they are breaking the law.

If the boss pays him as "employee", the boss has to do more accounting paperwork like hold out taxes, Social Security, and Medicare payments. And the boss has to pay for half of your friend's Social Security and Medicare contributions. He would issue a W2 at the end of the year showing all that accounting.

If the boss pays him as a "contractor", then he doesn't have to hold out taxes, and the other. He issues a 1099-MISC at the end of the year showing how much was paid to your friend in wages. That makes your friend self-employed to the IRS. He should be paying in to the IRS quarterly himself since the boss isn't holding out something from each paycheck toward his tax bill. And because he is self employed, he has to pay self-employment tax which is his Social Security and Medicare contributions. He pays 100% of that as self-employed. His boss contributes nothing when your friend is a contractor, not an employee.

The boss is probably cheating on his own business tax returns by not reporting all of his own business income as well as your friend's wages. This will not likely be solved easily because it is not just your friend's issue, but his employer's as well.

Could not agree more! This is a great explanation.

To the OP... As a small business owner myself, I have several contractors who are self-employed and I issue them a 1099 at the end of the year. I don't pay taxes for them. I also hired an actual part-time employee but for him I have to pay taxes and file differently. Your fiance's boss sounds like they are doing everything off the books which gets him out of a lot of expenses from taxes to medical etc. Your fiance will definitely need some help getting this sorted out.

[Mike91 0]

Hi,

Please find my input on CR1 visa (financial documents) and Medicals

1. CR1 visa (financial documents)

If you go this route, you'll have to complete something called Affidavit of Support (AOS) and provide Financial documents. There are different types of affidavits. Each tailored for different circumstances. Please browse the link below to see which AOS fits your case.

https://travel.state.gov/content/visas/en/immigrate/immigrant-process/documents/Step_4_Collect_Financial_Documents.html

2. Medicals

I've had my medicals done about three weeks ago. The doctor did not ask me to provide him with my medical file. He asked me however lots of medical questions such as if I take medications on a constant basis, have chronic diseases, had surgeries, heart failures and so on and so forth. He took some notes. Then I asked him what are the things the U.S. Immigration looks for in those medicals. His reply was "They want to see if you don't have Tuberculosis and Syphilis. They also want you to have certain vaccinations." Since I wasn't able to provide any vaccinations record. Hi gave me some boosts . That's all.

Hope this helps and good luck

[JustShootIt 2]

I have another question.

If my partners friend was to co-sponsor, do they have to be living in the same household? As they do not.

Which forms would they need to fill?

Edit: This is for the CR1

There seems to be so many forms for different situations. While we are only preparing for when/if the time comes, it would reassure us to know beforehand.

Edit again: It seems they would each file a I-864, is this correct? I was looking at the I-184A for a moment

Edited March 23, 2016 by JustShootIt

[Boiler 43,446]

Joint Sponsor needs to be US or LPR resident in US.

[JustShootIt 2]

Joint Sponsor needs to be US or LPR resident in US.

That they are

[Nich-Nick 3,353]

A joint sponsor does his own I-864 for a CR1 or also when.a K1 adjusts status.

The joint sponsor has to make enough by himself.

But if two people happen to live in the same house they can pool their money to have a household income that is enough. Like Dad makes $18k and Mom makes $10k, so neither qualifies on their own. Dad can add Mom to his I-864 as a contributing person who lives in his house. Their combined inome is $28k and qualifies. Only for persons within same household. In this scenario, Mom has to fill out an I-864A saying she goes along with Dad using her income on his I-864. He can't promise her income without her signing on to the responsibility via I-864A.

When a sponsor makes enough on his own, they just do an I-864 and don't need to report the money from other household members.

[JustShootIt 2]

Ok thank you.

I will be visiting again at the end of may for two weeks. I travel from London Heathrow to George Bush int'l, houston, texas. On my last trip I was not asked any questions at all.

If I am asked the purpose of my visit, I will tell them I am visiting my boyfriend. I will be staying for 2 weeks (as i am restricted how long I can visit because of work). I will make sure to have a print out of my itinerary showing my return flight. I only take around $500 plus two credit cards (combined credit of £4500). My boyfriend is one year my junior. My boyfriend will be waiting to pick me up in arrivals as he did last time (I felt a bit sorry since the VWP queue was 2 hours long last time)

Is there anything else I will require? From reading the forums it seems its good to have a letter from the employer showing stating that they expect your return to work, showing you have ties just incase. As for family, I only live with my mum but she requires that I pay my keep as we would struggle otherwise, as well as a two pets to look after.

I am not sure if this would be sufficient enough to prove my ties to my country should they question it.

Edited March 23, 2016 by JustShootIt