Unable to provide US Federal Income Tax Information

[Neen_in_Ottawa 0]

I have started assembling documents which need to be submitted with the I-864 Affidavit of Support form.

My husband relocated to Texas last month from Canada and is working. His salary more than covers the guidelines. Problem - Because my husband (who is a USC) has never worked in the United Sates, we are unable to provide any US federal individual income tax information.

He has lived in Canada since he was 10 years old. Any suggestions?

[CutienPurg 0]

If his income was enough to require him to file, regardless of where it was earned, as a USC he was required to file a tax return while living in Canada. He will need to file returns for those years before you can go forward with the I-864.

[Yodrak 7]

Neen_in_Ottawa,

You identify yourself as a K3 and are posting in the K3 forum, yet your timeline shows no I-129f and you are asking about I-864. This indicates an immigrant visa, not a K3 visa.

Which is it?

Either way, heed CutienPurg's observation that your husband most likely needs to file some past US income tax returns.

Yodrak

I have started assembling documents which need to be submitted with the I-864 Affidavit of Support form.

My husband relocated to Texas last month from Canada and is working. His salary more than covers the guidelines. Problem - Because my husband (who is a USC) has never worked in the United Sates, we are unable to provide any US federal individual income tax information.

He has lived in Canada since he was 10 years old. Any suggestions?

Edited April 18, 2007 by Yodrak

[Neen_in_Ottawa 0]

I think my timeline clearly shows an I-129F.

I'm leaving my options open at this point. I may pursue the CR1, I may not.

Thanks CutienPurg - odd he is required to file US taxes having never earned income in the United States. He only received a SSN a year ago!

[CutienPurg 0]

was he a USC by birth......if so, then he still needs to file....at the very least to the degree he meets the requirements for the I-864. USC's are required to report world income based on citizenship unlike Canada where it is a requirement based on residency.

[Neen_in_Ottawa 0]

was he a USC by birth......if so, then he still needs to file....at the very least to the degree he meets the requirements for the I-864. USC's are required to report world income based on citizenship unlike Canada where it is a requirement based on residency.

Yes .. he is USC by birth. He also has Canadian citizenship. Thanks for the info - there is no way that he knew that.

[Yodrak 7]

Neen_in_Ottawa,

My appologies, on re-check I see that your timeline does show your husband's I-129f submission.

In any event, I-864 issues are immigrant visa or adjustment of status related, not K3 related.

Yodrak

I think my timeline clearly shows an I-129F.

I'm leaving my options open at this point. I may pursue the CR1, I may not.

.....

[YuAndDan 153]

I think my timeline clearly shows an I-129F.

I'm leaving my options open at this point. I may pursue the CR1, I may not.

Thanks CutienPurg - odd he is required to file US taxes having never earned income in the United States. He only received a SSN a year ago!

The other problem you will have with for I-864 is the question of Domicile.

U.S. Domicile Is Required

You must have a domicile (residence) in the United States before we can issue an immigrant visa to your spouse. This is because a U.S. domicile is required to file an Affidavit of Support, Form I-864, and this form is required for all Spouse of a U.S. Citizen (IR-1) immigration cases.

Domicile: Place where a person has his or her principal residence. The person must intend to keep that residence for the foreseeable future. The sponsor of an immigrant must have domicile in the United States before the visa can be issued. This generally means that the sponsor must be living in the United States. In certain circumstances, however one can be considered to have a domicile while living temporarily living overseas.

http://travel.state.gov/visa/immigrants/ty...1.html#Domicile

http://travel.state.gov/visa/frvi/glossary...ml#denomination

Who Completes and Signs Form I-864?

A sponsor completes and signs Form I-864. A sponsor is required to be at least 18 years old and domiciled in the United States, or its territories or possessions (see Step-by-step Instructions for more information on domicile).

15. Country of Domicile. This question is asking you to indicate the country where you maintain your principal residence and where you plan to reside for the foreseeable future. If your mailing address and/or place of residence is not in the United States, but your country of domicile is the United States, you must attach a written explanation and documentary evidence indicating how you meet the domicile requirement. If you are not currently living in the United States, you may meet the domicile requirement if you can submit evidence to establish that any of the following conditions apply:

A. You are employed by a certain organization.

Some individuals employed overseas are automatically considered to be domiciled in the United States because of the nature of their employment. The qualifying types of employment include employment by:

• The U.S. government;
  
• A U.S. firm or corporation engaged in whole or in part in the development of foreign trade and commerce with the United States, or a subsidiary of such a firm or corporation;
  
• A public international organization in which the United States participates by treaty or statute;
  
• A religious denomination having a bona fide organization in the United States, if the employment abroad involves the person's performance of priestly or ministerial functions on behalf of the denomination; or
  
• A religious denomination or interdenominational missionary organization having a bona fide organization in the United States, if the person is engaged solely as a missionary.
  

B. You are living abroad temporarily.

If you are not currently living in the United States, you must show that your trip abroad is temporary and that you have maintained your domicile in the United States. You can show this by providing proof of your voting record in the United States, proof of paying U.S. State or local taxes, proof of having property in the United States, proof of maintaining bank or investment accounts in the United States, or proof of having a permanent mailing address in the United States.Other proof could be evidence that you are a student studying abroad or that a foreign government has authorized a temporary stay.

C. You intend in good faith to reestablish your domicile in the United States no later than the date of the intending immigrant's admission or adjustment of status.You must submit proof that you have taken concrete steps to establish you will be domiciled in the United States at a time no later than the date of the intending immigrant's admission or adjustment of status. Concrete steps might include accepting a job in the United States, signing a lease or purchasing a residence in the United States, or registering children in U.S. schools. Please attach proof of the steps you have taken to establish domicile as described above.

25. Federal Income Tax Information.

If you were required to file a Federal income tax return during any of the previous three tax years but did not do so, you must file any and all late returns with IRS and attach an IRS-generated tax return transcript documenting your late filing before submitting the I-864 Affidavit of Support. If you were not required to file a Federal income tax return under U.S. tax law because your income was too low, attach a written explanation. If you were not required to file a Federal income tax return under U.S. tax law for any other reason, attach a written explanation including evidence of the exemption and how you are subject to it. Residence outside of the United States does not exempt U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents from filing a U.S. Federal income tax return. See"Filing Requirements" in the IRS Form 1040 Filing Instructions to determine whether you were required to file.

http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/I-864.pdf

US citizens may be exempt from paying taxes on foreign income, but are not exempt from filing an annual return with the IRS.

Edited April 18, 2007 by YuAndDan

[taka 0]

I think my timeline clearly shows an I-129F.

I'm leaving my options open at this point. I may pursue the CR1, I may not.

Thanks CutienPurg - odd he is required to file US taxes having never earned income in the United States. He only received a SSN a year ago!

The US has a worldwide taxation policy, so US citizens have to report their income regardless of where they earned it.

I understand this is not common in other countries but is a rule of the US.

I have both the US and Japanese citizenships and never lived in the US since my family returned to Japan when I was a little boy. I am now here in the US to study at a US graduate school. I was not aware whether I had an SSN, so I have got it issued (or reissued). Then I filed tax returns for past 3 years because I was aware that I need them when I go through the GC or K-3 visa process for my wife.

Tax return filing will be a bit complicated because you will want to use the foreign income excusion and/or foreign tax exclusion. Therefore, I recommend you contact a US tax advisor, but the most likely outcome would be that there would be no (or almost no) tax payable after calculating.

Hope this helps.

[CutienPurg 0]

YuAndDan,

The USC has already fulfilled the domicile requirement by having "relocated to Texas last month from Canada and is working"

[homesick_american 1]

Since he meets the bona fide residence requirement of being resident in another country for those years, he can probably file the 2555-EZ which clearly states what each year's exemption is. The foreign income exemption on the 2006 2555-EZ is $82,400.

I doubt his taxes are complicated enough to require hiring someone to do them; just get him to call the IRS and explain his situation. They can advise him on what forms to file for what years better than anyone here can.

[pushbrk 12,287]

Since he meets the bona fide residence requirement of being resident in another country for those years, he can probably file the 2555-EZ which clearly states what each year's exemption is. The foreign income exemption on the 2006 2555-EZ is $82,400.

I doubt his taxes are complicated enough to require hiring someone to do them; just get him to call the IRS and explain his situation. They can advise him on what forms to file for what years better than anyone here can.

Yes, this is one of those situations where you can actually count on the IRS to help you. Also, the new I-864 requires only one tax return. If you end up filing to adjust status, that year could easily be 2007. Keeping the CR1 case moving would require filing for 2006.

[trailmix 77]

Hi Neen,

I actually just went through this. I only received my SSN a month ago - my 3 years worth of tax returns are now in the mail to the IRS - I filed 2006, 2005 and 2004 (although I noted the USCIS does only require 1 year - I decided to file 3 anyway).

There is a lot of info on the IRS site, I called them just to confirm and ended up speaking with an agent for 74 minutes - 5 minutes of this was actually useful information - but he was just being thorough I guess.

I filed a 1040 an F2555EZ and a F8891 (the 8891 is only necessary if he has an RRSP).

Anyway, it is pretty straight forward, assuming his income is lower than $82,400 U.S. for 2006 (as an example as 2005 and 2004 have their own limits).

Other than that the only thing to note is that all amounts must be in U.S. dollars and they give a link on their website to the federal reserve averages for each year. The agent also told me to call them in about 6 weeks to ask for a transcript, he said it is faster if I call to request one, rather than using the online form.

Send me a message if I can be of any help.

[Neen_in_Ottawa 0]

Hi Neen,

I actually just went through this. I only received my SSN a month ago - my 3 years worth of tax returns are now in the mail to the IRS - I filed 2006, 2005 and 2004 (although I noted the USCIS does only require 1 year - I decided to file 3 anyway).

There is a lot of info on the IRS site, I called them just to confirm and ended up speaking with an agent for 74 minutes - 5 minutes of this was actually useful information - but he was just being thorough I guess.

I filed a 1040 an F2555EZ and a F8891 (the 8891 is only necessary if he has an RRSP).

Anyway, it is pretty straight forward, assuming his income is lower than $82,400 U.S. for 2006 (as an example as 2005 and 2004 have their own limits).

Other than that the only thing to note is that all amounts must be in U.S. dollars and they give a link on their website to the federal reserve averages for each year. The agent also told me to call them in about 6 weeks to ask for a transcript, he said it is faster if I call to request one, rather than using the online form.

Send me a message if I can be of any help.

You're the best ... all of you have been great! Thanks soooooo much for the help!

[taka 0]

Hi Neen,

I actually just went through this. I only received my SSN a month ago - my 3 years worth of tax returns are now in the mail to the IRS - I filed 2006, 2005 and 2004 (although I noted the USCIS does only require 1 year - I decided to file 3 anyway).

There is a lot of info on the IRS site, I called them just to confirm and ended up speaking with an agent for 74 minutes - 5 minutes of this was actually useful information - but he was just being thorough I guess.

I filed a 1040 an F2555EZ and a F8891 (the 8891 is only necessary if he has an RRSP).

Anyway, it is pretty straight forward, assuming his income is lower than $82,400 U.S. for 2006 (as an example as 2005 and 2004 have their own limits).

Other than that the only thing to note is that all amounts must be in U.S. dollars and they give a link on their website to the federal reserve averages for each year. The agent also told me to call them in about 6 weeks to ask for a transcript, he said it is faster if I call to request one, rather than using the online form.

Send me a message if I can be of any help.

Sorry, I should admit that my explanation was not sufficient.

I agree that it is straight forward if your income is within $82,400.

In my case, I was slightly above this amount so I also needed to use a foreign tax deduction. That made things complicated because I had to calculate the tax credit carried over to next year, etc.

Anyway, it seems that the people in VJ knows not only immigration rules but tax rules. That is very good.