Filing for spouse

[lostinlove 0]

Hey guys,

Got my permanent green card through marriage to a US citizen on April 2014. We separated on November 2015. She filed for a divorce which was finalized on April 27, 2016. I got married in my home country to a native citizen a few days after divorce was finalized. It was an arranged marriage. My marriage to the US citizen was as real as it can get. I have plenty of documents(joint lease, me being benificiary in her 401k, life insurance, health insurance, pictures, car title.) to prove it was a bonafide marraige. Since I got so soon after the divorce. Is this going to be an issue. None of my official documents in the US says Im married(tax, work information). I figured there was no point of saying I was married because she was not here. Has anyone been in a similar situation. Would me getting married so soon be a problem? Also, would I be breaking the 5 year rule?

[portorusa 431]

Are you a US citizen or GC holder? Have you already filed I-130 for your new spouse? How much time together have you spent so far?

So since May 2016 (presuming your marriage took place then)  you claimed yourself as ‘single’ on your 2016-2018 taxes?

Getting married soon after the divorce will hardly be a problem but expect scrutiny because of your previous marriage.

[Allaboutwaiting 2,503]

For tax purposes, the IRS allows you to file as single as your spouse does not live with you. I don't know why you wouldn't inform your workplace.

 

Now that you are intending to petition your wife, by deciding to file taxes as single, and not having any US document that states you're married, you're lacking some very good pieces of evidence.

 

You could face more scrutiny during the process because of your immigration history and depending on your country of origin. 

 

 

Edited July 16, 2019 by Allaboutwaiting

[Just Paul 4,595]

You would file as Married Filing Separately for 2016 to 2018 since you were married.

 

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/international-taxpayers-filing-status-if-married-to-a-nonresident-alien-youtube-video-text-script

[geowrian 22,337]

26 minutes ago, Allaboutwaiting said:

For tax purposes, the IRS allows you to file as single as your spouse does not live with you.

From the 1040: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040gi.pdf

Quote

Single

You can check the “Single” box at the top of Form 1040 if any of the following was true on December 31, 2018.

•You were never married.

•You were legally separated accord-ing to your state law under a decree of divorce or separate maintenance. But if, at the end of 2018, your divorce wasn't final (an interlocutory decree), you are considered married and can't check the box.

•You were widowed before January 1, 2018, and didn't remarry before the end of 2018. But if you have a child, you may be able to use the qualifying widow(er) filing status. See the instructions for Qualifying Widow(er), later.

None of these conditions apply to somebody who is still married on Dec. 31st.

The valid filing statuses are MFJ (if eligible), MFS (use "NRA" for the spouse's SSN/ITIN if needed), or HOH (with a non-spouse dependent in the household).

 

1 hour ago, lostinlove said:

None of my official documents in the US says Im married(tax, work information). I figured there was no point of saying I was married because she was not here.

And there was a point in not providing correct information...?

 

The tax issue can be resolved by amending your taxes. It's not directly an immigration issue.

Provide the evidence of a bona fide marriage as you have it. Don't focus on what you're missing - focus on what you have.

 

Your previous marriage itself doesn't sound like it would be an issue based on the timeline. I'm unsure how an arranged marriage after a divorce is treated in local customs...if it's unusual, it may raise extra scrutiny. I really don't know....I'm just raising it as you would know if it's common or not, as will the CO.

 

1 hour ago, lostinlove said:

Also, would I be breaking the 5 year rule?

No - you've had your green card for at least 5 years.

 

Your case would fall under F2A right now (Edit: Unless you've already naturalized....whcih was not stated originally). While the PD for that is current this month, that may (IMO likely will) change by the time the I-130 is processed, resulting in a longer delay (until last month(?) it was around a 2 year wait). It may be wise to file for citizenship (if desired), then upgrade the I-130 petition when that completes.

Edited July 16, 2019 by geowrian

[Allaboutwaiting 2,503]

2 minutes ago, geowrian said:

 

Considered unmarried.

You are considered unmarried on the last day of the tax year if you meet all the following tests.

• You file a separate return. A separate return includes a return claiming married filing separately, single, or head of household filing status.
• You paid more than half the cost of keeping up your home for the tax year.
• Your spouse didn’t live in your home during the last 6 months of the tax year.

Source: https://www.irs.gov/publications/p504#en_US_2018_publink1000175857

[Just Paul 4,595]

3 minutes ago, Allaboutwaiting said:

Considered unmarried.

You are considered unmarried on the last day of the tax year if you meet all the following tests.

• You file a separate return. A separate return includes a return claiming married filing separately, single, or head of household filing status.
• You paid more than half the cost of keeping up your home for the tax year.
• Your spouse didn’t live in your home during the last 6 months of the tax year.

Source: https://www.irs.gov/publications/p504#en_US_2018_publink1000175857

Publication 504?  That is for divorced or (legally) separated filers.

[geowrian 22,337]

18 minutes ago, Allaboutwaiting said:

Considered unmarried.

You are considered unmarried on the last day of the tax year if you meet all the following tests.

• You file a separate return. A separate return includes a return claiming married filing separately, single, or head of household filing status.
• You paid more than half the cost of keeping up your home for the tax year.
• Your spouse didn’t live in your home during the last 6 months of the tax year.

Source: https://www.irs.gov/publications/p504#en_US_2018_publink1000175857

Read the section that is under: HOH

[Allaboutwaiting 2,503]

 

30 minutes ago, geowrian said:

Read the section that is under: HOH

 

41 minutes ago, Paul & Mary said:

Publication 504?  That is for divorced or (legally) separated filers.

On the same publication, the following is stated: If your spouse was a nonresident alien at any time during the tax year, and you haven’t chosen to treat your spouse as a resident alien, you are considered unmarried for head of household purposes. 

 

So, to avoid spreading misinformation, the OP cannot file as single because:

1) He's not legally separated (though separated). 

2) He's not head of household as he has no dependents.

Correct?

 

Cheers!

Edited July 16, 2019 by Allaboutwaiting

[geowrian 22,337]

35 minutes ago, Allaboutwaiting said:

On the same publication, the following is stated: If your spouse was a nonresident alien at any time during the tax year, and you haven’t chosen to treat your spouse as a resident alien, you are considered unmarried for head of household purposes. 

 

So, to avoid spreading misinformation, the OP cannot file as single because:

1) He's not legally separated (though separated). 

2) He's not head of household as he has no dependents.

Correct?

 

Cheers!

More specifically, he must meet 1 of the 3 conditions in my original comment to qualify for Single filing status.

 

But effectively as a result on #1 in this case, Single doesn't qualify. And because of #2, he doesn't qualify for HOH, correct.

Had they had dependent children within the household and was also considered unmarried using those rules, then HOH would be applicable.

 

Barring some atypical circumstances, there shouldn't be any extra tax liability due to the incorrect filing status. There's a small handful of deductions or credits that apply to Single but not MFS (and they involved children anyway, IIRC).

So it's a paperwork/clerical issue here, likely not a liability one, and not an issue for immigration itself.

Edited July 16, 2019 by geowrian

[lostinlove 0]

Guys, I appreciate all the comments and suggestions. However, I'm more concerned about the following things than filing taxes.  Sorry, if my question was misleading.

These are my concerns:

Since I got married so soon after the divorce. A few days after the divorce here in the US.  Is this going to be an issue. ?

 Also, would I be breaking the 5 year rule?

 

 

[lostinlove 0]

21 hours ago, portorusa said:

Are you a US citizen or GC holder? Have you already filed I-130 for your new spouse? How much time together have you spent so far?

So since May 2016 (presuming your marriage took place then)  you claimed yourself as ‘single’ on your 2016-2018 taxes?

Getting married soon after the divorce will hardly be a problem but expect scrutiny because of your previous marriage.

Im still a GC holder , about to apply for naturalization. After marriage, we were together for a few weeks and then I spent a month together in 2019 april.