Will it matter if my taxes when filled said "single" VS "married" when applying for CR1?

[Crazy Cat 39,350]

14 minutes ago, kaylahm23 said:

Welp they are certified professionals in this field and can lose their certification if they don't do their job correctly, so I doubt that two people from different companies would lie about the same thing. I am single for tax purposes as my spouse is not here earning. He has to be here for at least 6 months for them to count. Is what I've been told on teo separate occasions. I think I'll listen to people trained in this matter. Thanks though! Just providing my personal experience.😁

Your choice....but they are incorrect and you are incorrect. I gave you my reference from the IRS.  Where is your reference stating that you are single for tax purposes....and for this "6 months for them to count" stuff?  Sometimes "trained people" are not trained well enough.  By the way, I have researched this quite thoroughly.  As I said, I gave you the reference directly from the IRS website.  We have given you accurate information.  Of course, you are free to ignore said accurate advice.

Edited February 13, 2021 by Lucky Cat

[Crazy Cat 39,350]

2 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

Another data point is that one does not need an SS number for the foreign spouse to file MFS, but you must file on paper instead of online.  Somebody can chime in on what you hand write in the SS# field for the spouse before mailing.

 

"NRA".  I filed Married-Filing Separately in 205 and 2016.  

[pushbrk 12,138]

1 minute ago, Lucky Cat said:

"NRA".  I filed Married-Filing Separately in 205 and 2016.  

That's what I was thinking, but didn't remember.  NRA for Non Resident Alien

[kaylahm23 16]

2 minutes ago, Lucky Cat said:

Your choice....but they are incorrect and you are incorrect. I gave you my reference from the IRS.  Where is your reference stating that you are single for tax 

And I gave you information from a trained professional. So what's your point? I'm sure you could find me all the tax credits and deductions available to me as well? I'm not playing this game with you. You can have your opinion and I'll keep mine. If you believe you're right then be right. I simpy shared my experience with OP. It is my experience and advice I was given at no point did I swear it was the end all be all as you seemed to do. Why do you feel the need to challenge everything people post? You seem to act like because you can use google you're superior to others. OP should follow professional advice given. ✌🏾

[Crazy Cat 39,350]

1 minute ago, kaylahm23 said:

And I gave you information from a trained professional. So what's your point? I'm sure you could find me all the tax credits and deductions available to me as well? I'm not playing this game with you. You can have your opinion and I'll keep mine. If you believe you're right then be right. I simpy shared my experience with OP. It is my experience and advice I was given at no point did I swear it was the end all be all as you seemed to do. Why do you feel the need to challenge everything people post? You seem to act like because you can use google you're superior to others. OP should follow professional advice given. ✌🏾

I am not superior to anyone.  However, I happen to know what I am talking about here.  This same question comes up every year here. Good luck on your journey.  

[pablo2752 106]

The only things I have seen USCIS care about one's tax transcript/returns is primarily whether the sponsor has a correct income level...don't sweat it. 

[Coco8 1,039]

1 hour ago, pablo2752 said:

The only things I have seen USCIS care about one's tax transcript/returns is primarily whether the sponsor has a correct income level...don't sweat it. 

LOL USCIS cares about ANYTHING that can be misrepresentation and lying. Just because you have not been in this type of situation does not mean that they do not care about it. 

 

OP if as you said they gave you the incorrect information, you have to talk to their superiors and file a complaint. Just because someone is a "certified professional" does not mean they are not complete idiots out there. Come on, I have a PhD and work with people with PhDs and half of them are complete morons anyway.

Edited February 14, 2021 by Coco8

[SalishSea 16,808]

11 hours ago, Mercedeslorry said:

my tax agency (turbotax)

Turbotax is a tax agency?

[neca 166]

Chiming in to say that I went the "married filing separately" route, as advised by an independent CPA. Really curious that official tax companies would encourage someone to lie about their marital status just because their spouse is an NRA 🤔

[DeParaquedasBrasi 228]

12 hours ago, Mercedeslorry said:

Long story short - my husband and I got married in October of 2020. He lives in Pakistan, and has never visited, or lived in the U.S. I am in the process of filling my taxes (I am a U.S citizen) and have been told I can file as single since my husband has never lived here in the U.S with me, and does not have a SSN, or a ITIN number. However, I asked if it was possible to file as married for immigration purposes and I was told I could, but I would have to go through the lengthy process of having my husband get a ITIN number.

 

SO my question is does it really matter if my taxes are filled as single or do i have to go through this process of my husband trying to get a ITIN number (I prefer not to)? 

 

THANK YOU for your help and time.

Let me jump in here and give you some personal experience and advice from a tax agent and a person I know within the SS office. 
Some people are telling you to file MFJ and that’s actually incorrect as well. 
1st. You ask will it cause any problems. Well, I stressed out greatly by this when I filed my I-130 because we were married 2 years already and I had filed as single since she wasn’t here. (I, as well as MANY others, didn’t have any issues with USCIS). USCIS is actually very familiar with this problem, that actually needs to be addressed and fixed. 
2. I’ll explain why you’re NOT supposed to file MFJ while your spouse lives abroad. Two different tax agents warned me that MFJ is only for couples who live in America. If your spouse doesn’t live here, nor earn and money, they are NOT a dependent nor do they qualify for the tax credit. That’s why they ask if at any point during the year the person lived somewhere else besides with you. You didn’t spend any money on them IN America therefore they don’t qualify to get that credit. If even we pretend they were to arrive tomorrow, you can’t file MFJ this tax season because they didn’t live here last year (2020). You may file MFS if I’m not mistaken because you don’t receive the grand tax credit. 
3. People will say no 100% to filing single, but reality is you have 3 years and a couple months to amend “any mistakes”. I have yet to hear anyone get in trouble because of this. I certainly didn’t. 
If anything you’d get in trouble for filing MFJ and taking money that doesn’t belong to you. The IRS is saving millions when people file single...... believe us, they know about it and don’t mind keeping the money even though we sent money over seas to help our spouses. It’s the same for undocumented immigrants, they pay billions in taxes and get no refunds...... don’t think the IRS doesn’t know what’s goin on. 

Edited February 14, 2021 by DeParaquedasBrasi

[Ayrton 965]

24 minutes ago, DeParaquedasBrasi said:

2. I’ll explain why you’re NOT supposed to file MFJ while your spouse lives abroad. Two different tax agents warned me that MFJ is only for couples who live in America. If your spouse doesn’t live here, nor earn and money, they are NOT a dependent nor do they qualify for the tax credit. That’s why they ask if at any point during the year the person lived somewhere else besides with you. You didn’t spend any money on them IN America therefore they don’t qualify to get that credit. If even we pretend they were to arrive tomorrow, you can’t file MFJ this tax season because they didn’t live here last year (2020). You may file MFS if I’m not mistaken because you don’t receive the grand tax credit. 
 

Your number 2 is incorrect, and the tax agents that told you that are making the same mistake as OPs. 

 

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

 

IRS is pretty clear that you can treat a non resident Alien as a resident Alien to file taxes jointly. There's no requirement to be living in the US because if they are living in the US, then they would automatically be a RA because they would pass the presence test (with some exceptions). 

 

You also mentioned "dependent". Spouses are never a dependent.

 

If all these certified tax agents are making all these kind of mistakes when the answers are so clear on the IRS website, I can't imagine what the non certified ones are doing...

Edited February 14, 2021 by Ayrton

[Ncornejo7 236]

My own personal experience : I filed single and my wife had no issues obtaining her CR1.

[top_secret 2,071]

Another completely separate point to consider is what the differences in taxes may be.  I have dotted my I's and crossed my T's and feel quite confident my taxes are correctly in order to file married filing jointly with my non resident alien wife.  That quite literally makes over $10,000 difference in my tax return.  Probably next year it will be the same, so by the time she ever gets a visa it will be $20,000 difference.  Couples tax situations can vary greatly from ours, but certainly it is worth running the numbers to see how much difference it actually makes.  The financial difference based on filing status could be huge. 

[Alex X 0]

5 hours ago, pushbrk said:

"Can you?" and "Is it proper to?" are different questions.  It is not proper to file as single when you are married, but you "can".  Many do.  Your question is clearly related to your immigration process.  I can tell you that I, and MANY others filed as single followed by amended tax returns after spouses arrived and had SS numbers, and in since I started being involved with spouse immigration 16 years ago, I've never seen tax filing status as single have ANY impact on any spouse visa case.  With exception of being an IRS employee, I've never seen a taxpayer penalized for filing using an incorrect status that resulted in equal or HIGHER tax liability.  Make an informed choice as to whether you file properly as MFS or improperly as Single (for now) without worrying about any future impact to your immigration process either way.

Hello,

 

Could you please answer my question because it’s very close to the original question.

 

I'm an H1-B holder and my wife is on H4 visa. Filing my taxes for 2018 I checked "single". My wife hadn’t been with me at the beginning and joined me a couple of months later in 2019. Filing my taxes in 2019 while she wasn’t in the country, I got exactly the same bad tax advice: since she isn’t physically in the US, you are single.

 

I realized my mistake in 2020 and sent my amended tax return in May. However, due to COVID-19, its processing takes ages for now. It hadn’t been completed yet.

 

Now, I'm about to submit I-485 for me and my wife. It’s the employment-based application and I’m the main petitioner. I literally need to sign and mail it. However, I'm nervous and scared because I'm pretty sure that IRS won't complete processing of my amended return in time and USCIS will deny my application because of mistake.

 

Are my fears real? How can I secure my application if USCIS find that mistake and start questioning my or send RFE?

 

I have a photo-copy of my amended return and a return receipt with an IRS stamp as a proof of filing.

[Diane and Chris 651]

14 hours ago, Mercedeslorry said:

@JFH Thank you for your reply! 

 

I thought the same thing - However, my tax agency (turbotax) told me that since we have never physically lived together that I could file as single. He does not have any number to identify him and both filling jointly and filling separately require a SSN. So i'm assuming you would just suggest that we go through the process of getting an ITIN number for him and filling that way? 

Doesn’t do much to look like you’re married if you file single.