Potential problems for me?

[Gaiden79 14]

Hello, 

 

I recently got back from a 2 year stay in the Philippines, now back to California. While there i was living with my wife who i married in the Philippines(married for 1 year now). I didn't have any income from the US that whole time. 

 

I plan to petition her via CR-1, but i am worried about proof of income and 3 years tax returns. I heard you can get a sponsor to satisfy this requirement. Would there be any problems because of this? 

 

Lastly I was married before to a filipina who i brought to US on a K-1 about 14 years ago. I had 2 children with her. While living in the Philippines I was unable to pay all the child support and now owe arrears. My question would be, will owing a lot of child support cause problems with my petition? 

 

I know it's a lot of information but thank you for anyone to help me. 

[Boiler 45,657]

Are you working now and meeting the Affidavit requirements?

[Gaiden79 14]

3 minutes ago, Boiler said:

Are you working now and meeting the Affidavit requirements?

Not working yet. I've only been back for about a week. If i had enough income from my job it would be ok not to have 3 years tax returns? 

[Boiler 45,657]

You need to file taxes.

 

You need to meet Affidavit requirements.

 

(You need to sort out your child support as well but that is another issue)

[debbiedoo 2,339]

you need to file taxes even if you have no income to file. so do that.

 

as far as child support goes .... yeah you need to get that sorted out and caught up or on a court approved payment plan. Seems sketchy to me you can come up with the thousands necessary to bring a new bride to the US, but not support your kids. just my 2 cents. As far as the technicalities of child support and immigration go, im not sure how arrears are dealt with, but they will be counted as dependents for your financials even if you do not have custody (reason being if their mom died, they would come to live with you if they are minors). So your income will have to take that into account.

[Gaiden79 14]

37 minutes ago, Boiler said:

You need to file taxes.

 

You need to meet Affidavit requirements.

 

(You need to sort out your child support as well but that is another issue)

So even if i have a sponsor i am required to have filed taxes? 

[Boiler 45,657]

4 minutes ago, Gaiden79 said:

So even if i have a sponsor i am required to have filed taxes? 

Correct

[Gaiden79 14]

10 minutes ago, Boiler said:

Correct

Thanks. 

[carmel34 3,639]

US citizens are required to file tax returns and pay income tax on their total, worldwide income, regardless of place of residence and countries where the income is earned, so I assume that you were working and earning money while in the Philippines and so you need to pay US income taxes on those earnings for all the years you did not.  Plus three years of tax returns are generally expected with your affidavit of financial support, US domicile, and income in the US.  Don't try to hide anything, including the child support you owe and your financial obligations to your former spouse and your children, or it could be a problem for you and you don't want that.  Good luck sorting all this out.

[Boiler 45,657]

File yes maybe nothing to pay.

 

Child support is a separate issue.

[Gaiden79 14]

46 minutes ago, carmel34 said:

 

 

 

46 minutes ago, carmel34 said:

US citizens are required to file tax returns and pay income tax on their total, worldwide income, regardless of place of residence and countries where the income is earned, so I assume that you were working and earning money while in the Philippines and so you need to pay US income taxes on those earnings for all the years you did not.  Plus three years of tax returns are generally expected with your affidavit of financial support, US domicile, and income in the US.  Don't try to hide anything, including the child support you owe and your financial obligations to your former spouse and your children, or it could be a problem for you and you don't want that.  Good luck sorting all this out.

Well i had a business while i lived there that didn't work out so well. It was in my wife's name though so not considered my income. I had zero income for those years. 

 

So i could just file those returns as zero income to satisfy the 3 tax returns requirement? Even if i have a sponsor the 3 tax returns is required i assume? 

Edited September 22, 2018 by Gaiden79

[pushbrk 12,968]

1 hour ago, Gaiden79 said:

So even if i have a sponsor i am required to have filed taxes? 

Having a joint sponsor has no impact on whether you need to file a tax return, BUT, having no income means you don't have to file tax returns for THOSE years.  Something like ten months after you file the petition is when you will provide the affidavit of support.  Depending on your actual income THEN, you may or may not need a joint sponsor.

 

 

[Gaiden79 14]

3 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

Having a joint sponsor has no impact on whether you need to file a tax return, BUT, having no income means you don't have to file tax returns for THOSE years.  Something like ten months after you file the petition is when you will provide the affidavit of support.  Depending on your actual income THEN, you may or may not need a joint sponsor.

 

 

Ok yes that clarifies things a bit. So it gives me a lot of time to get things in order if I need to. I just need to fix some IRS stuff. Thank you. 

[hm139 55]

I think you did well in returning to the US to sort this all out. The CR1 process will take a long time and while it sucks to be separated, hopefully by the time your wife gets here you will have your life all organized and you can begin your future together.

 

You don't have to submit financial documentation until you reach the NVC stage, which for our case took 9 months from filing. At that point, you are supposed to submit tax returns OR a letter explaining that you did not have to file taxes because you had no income. In my case, I am currently earning enough to support my husband but I also provided a joint sponsor, because I want to avoid the consular officer thinking that my income is "too new" since I had next to no income while living abroad. But from reading the posts here on VJ, seems like that is entirely up to the CO's discretion. Hope it works out in your case!

[Gaiden79 14]

51 minutes ago, hm139 said:

I think you did well in returning to the US to sort this all out. The CR1 process will take a long time and while it sucks to be separated, hopefully by the time your wife gets here you will have your life all organized and you can begin your future together.

 

You don't have to submit financial documentation until you reach the NVC stage, which for our case took 9 months from filing. At that point, you are supposed to submit tax returns OR a letter explaining that you did not have to file taxes because you had no income. In my case, I am currently earning enough to support my husband but I also provided a joint sponsor, because I want to avoid the consular officer thinking that my income is "too new" since I had next to no income while living abroad. But from reading the posts here on VJ, seems like that is entirely up to the CO's discretion. Hope it works out in your case!

Thank you for your unique perspective on my situation. Yes I really did not want to return but because of my business failure i had no choice. 

 

So when you said your income was "new" how new approximately was it? Also the letter stating i didn't need to file taxes for those years is all you need? Any notarization needed? Thanks.