My husband and I separated for a year!!! What do I do

[JeanneAdil 6,190]

12 hours ago, LolaOkhuofu said:

When filing my taxes it was difficult through turbo tax to add my husband because he doesn’t have a social I’m becoming worried they will deny us with this little proof. What about evidence of legal name changes...does that hold any weight. I am also going to visit him in November. His family and I speak a lot and he speaks with my parents as well. I have joint credit card with him as a user and he has me on his lease in Nigeria since 2017 and I’m on his bank account even when he pays his rent over there. I sent him money a few times are these good? 

you don't go thru turbo tax / file the paper work/  it pays to do it this way

He (you for him )  fills out W7 IRS form for his ITIN (individual Taxpayer ID Number) with the proof of his ID and marriage certificate (or other as IRS directs)

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/nonresident-alien-spouse

you then file as married joint or filing separate /  i would file joint and take the extra credit for 2 instead of 1 but this is personal choice

only time to do this is when filing tax returns 

so, if this interview is denied for lack of proofs,   add him to 2019 taxes and get more evidence (more face time,  photos, etc)

be prepared in case you need to do it all  again

[Karim2018 99]

6 hours ago, missileman said:

That was a mistake.......You cannot legally file as single if you are married.......you could have filed "Married Filing Separately".....but you can not file electronically ....Since this is Nigeria, you might have some issues.......time to be creative....

 

missileman is absolutely correct. That's exactly what we did in our case: MFS. You can still use Turbo Tax and all you have to do is write NRA (Non-Resident Alien) in lieu of the SS# or ITIN #, write your spouse's name, print your files, sign them (just you) and mail them instead of filing electronically. I think you have up to 18 months to amend your 2018 taxes and file as MFS. No ITIN Needed. We were going down the ITIN route (so we can file as Married Filing Jointly), but they required the original passport, so we did MFS w/o the ITIN. Good Luck!

Edited August 2, 2019 by Karim2018

[Jmeleecur 347]

14 hours ago, LolaOkhuofu said:

When filing my taxes it was difficult through turbo tax to add my husband because he doesn’t have a social I’m becoming worried they will deny us with this little proof. What about evidence of legal name changes...does that hold any weight. I am also going to visit him in November. His family and I speak a lot and he speaks with my parents as well. I have joint credit card with him as a user and he has me on his lease in Nigeria since 2017 and I’m on his bank account even when he pays his rent over there. I sent him money a few times are these good? 

Provide all of this documented information and any pictures he may still have on his phone, if you've deleted them from yours.

[Duke & Marie 1,389]

6 hours ago, LolaOkhuofu said:

We have seen each other 3 times during our marriage and he stays for a few months at a time. I actually HAD a lot of proof before the separation but when we separated I deleted everything like pictures and messages because we were having issues that time. But yes we have reconciled and we are back together. So u guys only had those three things with no pictures?? 

We had 6 wedding photos with both of us together, I hate the camera always have... but yeah we had very little when first filing... but have gathered more since... eg lease, bank etc in case they request more..

 

in ref to your taxes, my husband filed head of household as I haven’t got my alien tax ID number yet, that’s something you could do or get for your husband or file married seperated.. 

 

you should be be careful though trying to determine evidence based on others, it’s variable based on alien country of origin... I’m in Aus, not exactly a high fraud country with a tonne of people wanting to move here... Nigeria on the other hand, I’d imagine is the reverse and would need far more evidence to prove legitimate marriages 🤷‍♀️

 

Like KE I said earlier tho, file what you have, don’t fabricate, and spend the next 12 months gathering more supporting evidence... if the relationship is legit, you shouldn’t have too many problems doing so.

[geowrian 22,335]

Head of Household requires one to be "considered unmarried" in that they did not live with a spouse for at least the last 6 months of the tax year, and had covered at least half the household costs of a non-spouse dependent (or very limited other cases).

See the 1040 instructions, page 16, for the full set of rules for HOH: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040gi.pdf

Edited August 2, 2019 by geowrian

[LilyJ 1,258]

4 hours ago, LolaOkhuofu said:

as for filing single when married...you try filing an immigrant spouse with turbo tax and see what they say

I also used TurboTax. Opted to self-file, printed out my 1040, wrote my husband's name down under where you put your spouse, wrote NRA (non resident alien) under SSN section as per IRS instructions, and mailed it to IRS (as you can't e-file without an SSN/ITIN, but paper filing IS still an option. Not everything is required to be done online...). It was that easy. TurboTax telling you to file as single because you can't e-file is no excuse. You cannot legally file as single if you are married no matter where your spouse is. Paper filing exists, and you must file as married regardless of whether your spouse is in the US or has an SSN or not. Amend your taxes.

[Lemonslice 4,549]

Were you a volunteer-nanny, or were you receiving a salary? You might have to correct other tax years also.

[Diane and Chris 651]

6 hours ago, LolaOkhuofu said:

U have not said anything helpful or beneficial...

A man of few words, but much wisdom!  😊

 

 

[Diane and Chris 651]

24 minutes ago, Lemonslice said:

Were you a volunteer-nanny, or were you receiving a salary? You might have to correct other tax years also.

Exactly. Any salary received as a nanny must be reported to the IRS as income and taxes paid on such income. This is a must to straighten out. 

[Nitas_man 3,100]

1 hour ago, Diane and Chris said:

A man of few words, but much wisdom!  😊

 

 

Describes most grumpy old men 😂

[Duke & Marie 1,389]

2 hours ago, geowrian said:

Head of Household requires one to be "considered unmarried" in that they did not live with a spouse for at least the last 6 months of the tax year, and had covered at least half the household costs of a non-spouse dependent (or very limited other cases).

See the 1040 instructions, page 16, for the full set of rules for HOH: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040gi.pdf

Agreed... it applies to us because he has custody of his kids

 

also in that same document it states about married people who live apart, which also applies to many of us

 

 

[dwheels76 5,459]

8 hours ago, LolaOkhuofu said:

He had a visa before he met me...in which he traveled with...when he went to renew it when it expired it...he was renewing it as a married person...and still got denied...I am now financially stable as I have a full time job and I am well over the poverty line now...I will try my hardest to submit evidence even more if I need it.

I figured since he is married now no way they would renew. Unfortunate but we must pay for the sins of those in the past who didn't return when they were suppose to.

[kemm360 144]

Sister, what i can tell you is to pause the filing for now and build enough evidence and maybe file it this same time next year... Visit each other and spend enough time and gather everything, it also helps your relationship too... According to everything you said you have i think you need more evidence. US embassy in Naija can be a hard rock to crack with a weak case... 

 

Goodluck

[Ryan H 3,790]

2 minutes ago, kemm360 said:

US embassy in Naija can be a hard rock to crack with a weak case... 

 

Immigrant visa interview in Nigeria are only conducted at the US Consulate in Lagos.

[Dalila Gonzalez 49]

21 hours ago, LolaOkhuofu said:

When filing my taxes it was difficult through turbo tax to add my husband because he doesn’t have a social I’m becoming worried they will deny us with this little proof. What about evidence of legal name changes...does that hold any weight. I am also going to visit him in November. His family and I speak a lot and he speaks with my parents as well. I have joint credit card with him as a user and he has me on his lease in Nigeria since 2017 and I’m on his bank account even when he pays his rent over there. I sent him money a few times are these good? 

You don’t need a social to file taxes, you can always just get your husband an ITIN (individual taxpayer ID number) and that is how you jointly file while the other person does not have a social. You could attempt to amend your taxes but I don’t know if that could cause you problems...you might want to ask someone that files taxes. Only certain tax people can request ITINs also by the way