CR-1 Visa Approval without IRS Tax Transcript? (Manila Embassy)

[J&J 2020 2]

Has anyone's spousal visa been approved in 2020 by US Embassy Manila without bringing a 2019 IRS Tax Return Transcript to the interview?  If so, what documents did they accept? Would a 2019 IRS W-2 Transcript alone be acceptable?

 

My wife recently received a 221g because they want my 2019 IRS Tax Transcript.  At the interview, my wife brought my 2019 tax return (including Form 1040), 2019 W-2 (issued by employer), and a recent 2020 Pay Stub... but were asked to follow up and provide the 2019 IRS Tax Transcript and 2019 W-2 (confusing because we provided the W-2 to them at the interview).  I filed my taxes back in June (before the July 15 deadline) but the IRS is taking up to 8 months to process paper returns and thereby generate a transcript. And so my IRS Transcript is still not available, 4 months after filing my taxes. (We had to file paper because e-filing doesn't work if your spouse lacks a social security number.)  I recently spoke to the IRS and they said they cannot locate my taxes (even though delivery confirmation proves they received it, and they cashed the check I wrote them in June!) and that I should resubmit my taxes, which I did.

 

We are disappointed and confused because US Embassy Manila specifically said to bring: The appropriate Form I-864 Affidavit of Support for each financial sponsor along with a photocopy of the sponsor’s most recent IRS transcript, or most recent tax return and any relevant W-2s, if the transcript is unavailable.

Source: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Supplements/Supplements_by_Post/MNL-Manila.html#pre_interview_checklist

 

My IRS Transcript would appear to be many months away and this delay may cause my wife's medical to expire too - not to mention more months of painful separation.  We are wondering if we should respond to the 221g by submitting only the 2019 IRS W-2 Transcript (since the 2019 IRS Tax Return Transcript won't be available for months). Are there any other actions we can take to resolve this?

Edited October 18, 2020 by J&J 2020

[PaulaCJohnny 712]

27 minutes ago, J&J 2020 said:

Has anyone's spousal visa been approved in 2020 by US Embassy Manila without bringing a 2019 IRS Tax Return Transcript to the interview?  If so, what documents did they accept? Would a 2019 IRS W-2 Transcript alone be acceptable?

 

My wife recently received a 221g because they want my 2019 IRS Tax Transcript.  At the interview, my wife brought my 2019 tax return (including Form 1040), 2019 W-2 (issued by employer), and a recent 2020 Pay Stub... but were asked to follow up and provide the 2019 IRS Tax Transcript and 2019 W-2 (confusing because we provided the W-2 to them at the interview).  I filed my taxes back in June (before the July 15 deadline) but the IRS is taking up to 8 months to process paper returns and thereby generate a transcript. And so my IRS Transcript is still not available, 4 months after filing my taxes. (We had to file paper because e-filing doesn't work if your spouse lacks a social security number.)  I recently spoke to the IRS and they said they cannot locate my taxes (even though delivery confirmation proves they received it, and they cashed the check I wrote them in June!) and that I should resubmit my taxes, which I did.

 

We are disappointed and confused because US Embassy Manila specifically said to bring: The appropriate Form I-864 Affidavit of Support for each financial sponsor along with a photocopy of the sponsor’s most recent IRS transcript, or most recent tax return and any relevant W-2s, if the transcript is unavailable.

Source: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Supplements/Supplements_by_Post/MNL-Manila.html#pre_interview_checklist

 

My IRS Transcript would appear to be many months away and this delay may cause my wife's medical to expire too - not to mention more months of painful separation.  We are wondering if we should respond to the 221g by submitting only the 2019 IRS W-2 Transcript (since the 2019 IRS Tax Return Transcript won't be available for months). Are there any other actions we can take to resolve this?

Hi. Was the W-2 uploaded before on the CEAC?

Which documents did you uploaded there before the interview? Was this W-2 there previously?

[J&J 2020 2]

Hi there. We did not upload a W-2 on CEAC because it was not required, and no W-2s are on CEAC now either.  The web site states that proof of income in the form of W-2 is only required on CEAC if your income is "below the poverty guidelines" (my income is not below the poverty guidelines). Source: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-5-collect-financial-evidence-and-other-supporting-documents.html

 

Our CEAC AOS documents (not Civil Documents which is a separate section) we uploaded were:

Form I-864

2019 Full Tax Return (includes 1040

2018 IRS Tax Transcript

2017 IRS Tax Transcript

Petitioner's Passport

 

 

 

[PaulaCJohnny 712]

23 minutes ago, J&J 2020 said:

Hi there. We did not upload a W-2 on CEAC because it was not required, and no W-2s are on CEAC now either.  The web site states that proof of income in the form of W-2 is only required on CEAC if your income is "below the poverty guidelines" (my income is not below the poverty guidelines). Source: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/step-5-collect-financial-evidence-and-other-supporting-documents.html

 

Our CEAC AOS documents (not Civil Documents which is a separate section) we uploaded were:

Form I-864

2019 Full Tax Return (includes 1040

2018 IRS Tax Transcript

2017 IRS Tax Transcript

Petitioner's Passport

 

 

 

 When we did our we add the 3 years of Tax returns and all W2. They specifically told you they need the 2019 Transcript Or the most recent one? 

You can add all that you have and add a note explaining that the 2019 is still in process. 

Because of this pandemia everything is slowly so you have a reason for don't have it. 

When you upload the document you have a small box for comments, use it to explain shortly your reason. 

Best wishes 

[J&J 2020 2]

47 minutes ago, Paula&Johnny said:

 When we did our we add the 3 years of Tax returns and all W2. They specifically told you they need the 2019 Transcript Or the most recent one? 

You can add all that you have and add a note explaining that the 2019 is still in process. 

Because of this pandemia everything is slowly so you have a reason for don't have it. 

When you upload the document you have a small box for comments, use it to explain shortly your reason. 

Best wishes 

Thanks for your comments. Maybe I didn't make myself clear in my first post, but we are already documentarily qualified on CEAC and already completed the visa interview as reflected in my timeline. No one is telling us there is a problem with what was posted on CEAC before the interview (though we will need to upload the 2 documents they're requesting to CEAC as soon as we can).  The embassy's request is a 221g asking for us to mail them her passport along with my 2019 IRS Tax Transcript (2018 is the most recent one I have) and 2019 W-2 (which we gave them already at the interview).

Edited October 18, 2020 by J&J 2020

[Hank_ 9,173]

9 hours ago, J&J 2020 said:

Has anyone's spousal visa been approved in 2020 by US Embassy Manila without bringing a 2019 IRS Tax Return Transcript to the interview?  If so, what documents did they accept? Would a 2019 IRS W-2 Transcript alone be acceptable?

 

My wife recently received a 221g because they want my 2019 IRS Tax Transcript.  At the interview, my wife brought my 2019 tax return (including Form 1040), 2019 W-2 (issued by employer), and a recent 2020 Pay Stub... but were asked to follow up and provide the 2019 IRS Tax Transcript and 2019 W-2 (confusing because we provided the W-2 to them at the interview).  I filed my taxes back in June (before the July 15 deadline) but the IRS is taking up to 8 months to process paper returns and thereby generate a transcript. And so my IRS Transcript is still not available, 4 months after filing my taxes. (We had to file paper because e-filing doesn't work if your spouse lacks a social security number.)  I recently spoke to the IRS and they said they cannot locate my taxes (even though delivery confirmation proves they received it, and they cashed the check I wrote them in June!) and that I should resubmit my taxes, which I did.

 

We are disappointed and confused because US Embassy Manila specifically said to bring: The appropriate Form I-864 Affidavit of Support for each financial sponsor along with a photocopy of the sponsor’s most recent IRS transcript, or most recent tax return and any relevant W-2s, if the transcript is unavailable.

Source: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Supplements/Supplements_by_Post/MNL-Manila.html#pre_interview_checklist

 

My IRS Transcript would appear to be many months away and this delay may cause my wife's medical to expire too - not to mention more months of painful separation.  We are wondering if we should respond to the 221g by submitting only the 2019 IRS W-2 Transcript (since the 2019 IRS Tax Return Transcript won't be available for months). Are there any other actions we can take to resolve this?

Embassy has been requiring tax transcripts for years now with immigrant visas.  I don't know of any cases with an immigrant visa where they accepted a tax return in years now.

 

Did the IRS respond to you in writing regarding the 8 month processing timeframe?  If they did I would try sending that to the embassy to get them to accept your tax return  .. best suggestion I can think of.

[Grace29 37]

Oh no not good. My wife has her interview soon and we just filed our taxes on October 15th as we filed an extension. Does your spouse have an ITIN? If not that could the issue with the tax return not being processed. I’m now expecting a 221g since we have the tax return but not the transcript. I will update what happens after the interview.

[J&J 2020 2]

2 hours ago, Hank_ said:

Embassy has been requiring tax transcripts for years now with immigrant visas.  I don't know of any cases with an immigrant visa where they accepted a tax return in years now.

 

Did the IRS respond to you in writing regarding the 8 month processing timeframe?  If they did I would try sending that to the embassy to get them to accept your tax return  .. best suggestion I can think of.

Hi Hank - it's strange to hear they haven't accepted tax returns in years, because the link I provided in my original post in this thread was last updated 9/23/2019 - and that says that a tax return + relevant W-2 is acceptable if a transcript is not available.  Is the web site incorrect? If so, where is the correct information posted indicating that transcripts are mandatory?

 

The 8-month transcript processing timeframe is based on someone else's experience (February 2020 filer received their transcript just this month). This info was passed along to me by my accountant as far as I can recall.  After speaking to the IRS and then speaking to the IRS call center's manager, they are sending us a letter acknowledging they have my taxes but that there are delays in processing the transcript. So we will try to submit that to the embassy as soon as possible as well.

Edited October 18, 2020 by J&J 2020

[Chancy 6,233]

29 minutes ago, Grace29 said:

Oh no not good. My wife has her interview soon and we just filed our taxes on October 15th as we filed an extension. Does your spouse have an ITIN? If not that could the issue with the tax return not being processed. I’m now expecting a 221g since we have the tax return but not the transcript. I will update what happens after the interview.

 

If you haven't already done so, email your wife a copy of the IRS form you submitted to request for an extension.  Have her bring a print-out of the form to the interview, just in case.

 

[J&J 2020 2]

42 minutes ago, Grace29 said:

Oh no not good. My wife has her interview soon and we just filed our taxes on October 15th as we filed an extension. Does your spouse have an ITIN? If not that could the issue with the tax return not being processed. I’m now expecting a 221g since we have the tax return but not the transcript. I will update what happens after the interview.

My wife does not have an ITIN - she has no U.S. source of income and has never been to the USA.  I filed Married Filing Separately.  Looking back, getting an ITIN in advance for her may have allowed me to e-file and avoid this problem of the missing 2019 IRS Transcript.   But it was never required or necessary, and the IRS said (including via phone in September 2020) that paper returns would have transcripts ready 3 months after filing (September 2020 was the estimate I was given when I spoke to them last month).

 

If I were you, I would have your wife consider printing and bringing along the IRS W-2 transcript as well - this should be available even if your tax return transcript is not, since it was generated when your employer sent their W-2s to the IRS earlier in the year (mine has been available for months).  The Embassy seemed to not accept my employer-issued W-2 so maybe they actually want the IRS W-2 transcript ("wages and income"). Wishing your wife luck and please keep us posted.

Edited October 18, 2020 by J&J 2020

[Hank_ 9,173]

56 minutes ago, J&J 2020 said:

Hi Hank - it's strange to hear they haven't accepted tax returns in years, because the link I provided in my original post in this thread was last updated 9/23/2019 - and that says that a tax return + relevant W-2 is acceptable if a transcript is not available.  Is the web site incorrect? If so, where is the correct information posted indicating that transcripts are mandatory?

 

The 8-month transcript processing timeframe is based on someone else's experience (February 2020 filer received their transcript just this month). This info was passed along to me by my accountant as far as I can recall.  After speaking to the IRS and then speaking to the IRS call center's manager, they are sending us a letter acknowledging they have my taxes but that there are delays in processing the transcript. So we will try to submit that to the embassy as soon as possible as well.

 I know what you are saying,  I was simply repeating what I have seen around here on VJ or people that are contacting me by PM or email.

 

The embassy 5 STEPS has zero info regarding financial support documentation, been that way for years now.   The info on the DOS site is all there is to go by, but every embassy goes down a slightly different path from there even.    The hard and fast rule is:  He who has the gold (visa in this case) makes the rules.   Give 'em what they ask for as you won't get far otherwise.

 

Hopefully the letter from the IRS will sway the embassy in their decision.  

Edited October 18, 2020 by Hank_

[Hawaii1 24]

Hello All - My wife is finishing up her physical clearance in 2 weeks (she had to do the dreaded sputum test)...and she has been hearing from other wives that the U.S. Embassy DOES require these IRS tax return transcripts. My tax return is being "processed" after a 7 month process to get an ITIN number (I sent the ITIN request with my 2019 tax return back in Feb).  I received my wife's ITIN number from the IRS just last month....and viewing the IRS "Where is my Refund Status", it just says they have received and are processing my return .  It states that it should be processed within 21 days, so hopefully I will receive my refund (and the 2019 tax return transcript will show on their web site so I can pull down).  I did send my 2017 and 2018 tax return transcripts and my 2019 wage and income transcripts (which are their already), and a statement from the IRS that I filed a extension (to Oct 15), which is on their web site under "2019 Tax Return Trnascript".  I also provide the status update on the "Where's My Refund" IRS website.....just in case I am not able to provide before she goes into her interview early next month. 

 

She also has my 2019 1040 tax return and W-2s. 

 

Please let me know what the Embassy tells your wives if they are not able to bring their 2019 tax return transcripts...and if they accept any other documents if your 2019 tax return transcript is not available.  Thanks!

[J&J 2020 2]

8 hours ago, Hawaii1 said:

Hello All - My wife is finishing up her physical clearance in 2 weeks (she had to do the dreaded sputum test)...and she has been hearing from other wives that the U.S. Embassy DOES require these IRS tax return transcripts. My tax return is being "processed" after a 7 month process to get an ITIN number (I sent the ITIN request with my 2019 tax return back in Feb).  I received my wife's ITIN number from the IRS just last month....and viewing the IRS "Where is my Refund Status", it just says they have received and are processing my return .  It states that it should be processed within 21 days, so hopefully I will receive my refund (and the 2019 tax return transcript will show on their web site so I can pull down).  I did send my 2017 and 2018 tax return transcripts and my 2019 wage and income transcripts (which are their already), and a statement from the IRS that I filed a extension (to Oct 15), which is on their web site under "2019 Tax Return Trnascript".  I also provide the status update on the "Where's My Refund" IRS website.....just in case I am not able to provide before she goes into her interview early next month. 

 

She also has my 2019 1040 tax return and W-2s. 

 

Please let me know what the Embassy tells your wives if they are not able to bring their 2019 tax return transcripts...and if they accept any other documents if your 2019 tax return transcript is not available.  Thanks!

Even though you don't have your 2019 tax return transcript, it sounds like you've brought the next best things: IRS statement of extension and 2019 IRS Wage & Income Transcript.  The Embassy did not mention any alternatives to the 2019 tax return transcript in our experience.

[Allovertheworld 355]

Why are the CO trying to be so hard lined?  You have your tax you sent to IRS and your W2.  Everyone knows taxes were not due until July 15th of this year. 

 

CO can make any call they want, I have seen in the past on K1's where the petitioner had no income and they issued a visa based on beneficiary having a BSN degree from Philippines.

 

 

[user555 196]

On 10/18/2020 at 12:12 PM, J&J 2020 said:

2019 IRS Tax Return Transcript

You can contact Yumburger. It looks like they got by without the latest tax transcript.