Joint Tax with an Alien spouse

[AfroKing 48]

We are under review at the USCIS and we are trying to set things in motion so when we get approved, we don't wait too long to jump on to NVC part.

 

My Question:

1. Since we are planning to file jointly, does the Beneficiary  have to be issued an ITIN before we can proceed with NVC (the affidavit of support part which involves Tax returns? Our approval estimate time is May, 2022 and  we plan that my wife takes a trip down here in May, so she can visit and for me to sign the forms. Does it mean we have to wait till the joint filling is approved before we can present the Tax refund as "support affidavit" evidence?  We are told it takes an average of 7-11 weeks to get an ITIN number. Why we aren't using the post to send from here to the States is because there have been issues of passport loss, damage etc. 

 

Please, special contributions from individuals who have filed jointly for their spouse(s) from a third country, mostly Africa and the walk-through will be highly appreciated. Thanks

[SteveInBostonI130 3,328]

1.  File jointly - MFJ - with the ITIN.  

2. Wait for the tax return transcript to submit the I-864.  Or, send a copy of the complete tax return, along with all W2's and 1099.

 

Also, why do you think you need to file as MFJ?  It would be simpler for your wife to file as MFS now and sometime in the future amend the tax return if you deem it is beneficial financially.  There is no immigration requirement for you to file as MFJ.

 

For the affidavit of support, you cannot include your income unless your salary will continue after you immigrate.  The income requirement would be based on your wife's income and/or your joint assets.

[randy32 165]

4 hours ago, AfroKing said:

We are under review at the USCIS and we are trying to set things in motion so when we get approved, we don't wait too long to jump on to NVC part.

 

My Question:

1. Since we are planning to file jointly, does the Beneficiary  have to be issued an ITIN before we can proceed with NVC (the affidavit of support part which involves Tax returns? Our approval estimate time is May, 2022 and  we plan that my wife takes a trip down here in May, so she can visit and for me to sign the forms. Does it mean we have to wait till the joint filling is approved before we can present the Tax refund as "support affidavit" evidence?  We are told it takes an average of 7-11 weeks to get an ITIN number. Why we aren't using the post to send from here to the States is because there have been issues of passport loss, damage etc. 

 

Please, special contributions from individuals who have filed jointly for their spouse(s) from a third country, mostly Africa and the walk-through will be highly appreciated. Thanks

When you spouse gets her in May, file out the W-7 form, locate a Certifying Acceptance Agent (CAA). that way you can submit your tax without having to send the passport and she gets to sign the forms.

The ITIN is not needed NVC stage but needed to file taxes joint

2021 taxes will be needed at the NVC and embassy stages.

Once you file your taxes, it does not get approved. It gets accepted and then processed by the IRS

[randy32 165]

4 hours ago, SteveInBostonI130 said:

Also, why do you think you need to file as MFJ?  It would be simpler for your wife to file as MFS now and sometime in the future amend the tax return if you deem it is beneficial financially.  There is no immigration requirement for you to file as MFJ.

Personal opinion, if his spouse will be here in May, I will wait and I would file MFJ with ITIN and skip having to amend the return. An extension (if needed is easier than amendment).

Also if you are expecting a return you don't really have to file an extension unless you need it

 

[pushbrk 12,253]

4 hours ago, randy32 said:

Personal opinion, if his spouse will be here in May, I will wait and I would file MFJ with ITIN and skip having to amend the return. An extension (if needed is easier than amendment).

Also if you are expecting a return you don't really have to file an extension unless you need it

 

Terms are being confused here based on common misuse of terms.  Tax refund is often incorrectly called tax return.  The tax return is what you file.  You may get a refund or you may pay upon filing.  It is correct that there is no extension needed if the taxpayer is sure of a refund.

[randy32 165]

8 hours ago, pushbrk said:

Terms are being confused here based on common misuse of terms.  Tax refund is often incorrectly called tax return.  The tax return is what you file.  You may get a refund or you may pay upon filing.  It is correct that there is no extension needed if the taxpayer is sure of a refund.

Thanks that was supposed to be refund.

[pushbrk 12,253]

5 hours ago, randy32 said:

Thanks that was supposed to be refund.

And I have, in real life, called a refund a return, just not in the context of an affidavit of support or other US immigration discussion.  The OP already made that error, understandably.

[AfroKing 48]

On 3/16/2022 at 12:40 AM, SteveInBostonI130 said:

1.  File jointly - MFJ - with the ITIN.  

2. Wait for the tax return transcript to submit the I-864.  Or, send a copy of the complete tax return, along with all W2's and 1099.

 

Also, why do you think you need to file as MFJ?  It would be simpler for your wife to file as MFS now and sometime in the future amend the tax return if you deem it is beneficial financially.  There is no immigration requirement for you to file as MFJ.

 

For the affidavit of support, you cannot include your income unless your salary will continue after you immigrate.  The income requirement would be based on your wife's income and/or your joint assets.

Thanks for your response. I have heard that filling jointly for spouses, helps proof a bonafide relationship, especially if the beneficiary( Which is me) is from a high fraud country. Although, it doesn't really make much sense to me why people who live in different countries should have to file jointly since its a crazy lots of hurdle.

 

I and my wife(USC)  are willing to file jointly though but we just don't want that to be a time waster in moving to the next stage. The waiting time with USCS is long already. 

 

Please, you can check my timeline to have an idea when we filed and the process for further advice. Although a very versatile member of these community have emphasised he hasn't seen a case having issues because of how the Petitioner filled, we hear crazy stories of how some consular look for every flimsy things to put people here on long AP.

 

Our estimated approval(hopefully) is May and she's flying down here in May. Based on this, what would advice we do so as not to lag in moving to the next stage with NVC, let's say we are filling jointly.

 

Thanks

[AfroKing 48]

On 3/16/2022 at 5:00 AM, randy32 said:

When you spouse gets her in May, file out the W-7 form, locate a Certifying Acceptance Agent (CAA). that way you can submit your tax without having to send the passport and she gets to sign the forms.

The ITIN is not needed NVC stage but needed to file taxes joint

2021 taxes will be needed at the NVC and embassy stages.

Once you file your taxes, it does not get approved. It gets accepted and then processed by the IRS

My wife is the USC and i'm the Beneficiary. She's the one flying down here. thanks

[AfroKing 48]

On 3/16/2022 at 11:29 PM, pushbrk said:

And I have, in real life, called a refund a return, just not in the context of an affidavit of support or other US immigration discussion.  The OP already made that error, understandably.

Thanks for the  correction Sir.

 

Looking at the scenerio Sir, being a versatile experienced contributor, do you think we might have a delay in moving to the NVC stage if we decide to file jointly?

 

with this pointer:

Our estimated approval is May 2022(USCS) stage

She's thinking to file for an extension(she's the petitoner)

So when she comes, she can take my passport with her personally back to the States and so i can sign the W4 so i can get the ITIN

 

with the above pointer Sir, what would you advice so we don't lag behind in swiftly moving to the NVC stage since we are ready for other requirements for that stage.

[pushbrk 12,253]

2 hours ago, AfroKing said:

Thanks for the  correction Sir.

 

Looking at the scenerio Sir, being a versatile experienced contributor, do you think we might have a delay in moving to the NVC stage if we decide to file jointly?

 

with this pointer:

Our estimated approval is May 2022(USCS) stage

She's thinking to file for an extension(she's the petitoner)

So when she comes, she can take my passport with her personally back to the States and so i can sign the W4 so i can get the ITIN

 

with the above pointer Sir, what would you advice so we don't lag behind in swiftly moving to the NVC stage since we are ready for other requirements for that stage.

I like your plan.  I hope the timing works out for you.

[AfroKing 48]

On 3/18/2022 at 4:20 PM, pushbrk said:

I like your plan.  I hope the timing works out for you.

My wife actually went to an IRS office yesterday and explained our situation but the response she was given wasn't siting well with me. I know its one thing for a tax guy to know his onions about taxes but its another thing entirely to know how that affects an immigration process. 

 

The IRS guy said for us to file as Married filling separately, that it will still required that we process an ITIN number for me and that he would not advice us to go ahead now as that will be left unattended to till after the Tax season. He then said that using the married filling separately would strip her of some benefits. He then advised that she file single now, since the NVC and interview stage is still ahead, she can get my documents when she travelled down here, apply for the ITIN ahead of the next tax season and then we can file jointly and show the consular during the interview. 

 

Now, i'm more confused and i don't want to argue with my wife about this

 

WIll a Married USC filling her taxes as Single while married not raise a dust with NVC? Since by the time i go for my interview later, we would have filed jointly, will the consular at that time even look at the current tax since most people have said they mostly rely on the file NVC had forwarded to them and might not look at the recent tax papers at that time.

[pushbrk 12,253]

8 hours ago, AfroKing said:

WIll a Married USC filling her taxes as Single while married not raise a dust with NVC? Since by the time i go for my interview later, we would have filed jointly, will the consular at that time even look at the current tax since most people have said they mostly rely on the file NVC had forwarded to them and might not look at the recent tax papers at that time.

No.  In 16 years of involvement with the spouse immigration process, I've never seen filing single have any impact whatsoever to the immigration process.  NVC doesn't care and the ultimate decision maker, a Consular Officer not only doesn't care but sees it all the time and understands why.  I did it.  Many others have.  This is a non-issue unless your wife actually is employed by the IRS. If she is, using the wrong filing status could get her fired, so losing her job would certainly impact the visa process.  Otherwise, carry on.  

[AfroKing 48]

17 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

No.  In 16 years of involvement with the spouse immigration process, I've never seen filing single have any impact whatsoever to the immigration process.  NVC doesn't care and the ultimate decision maker, a Consular Officer not only doesn't care but sees it all the time and understands why.  I did it.  Many others have.  This is a non-issue unless your wife actually is employed by the IRS. If she is, using the wrong filing status could get her fired, so losing her job would certainly impact the visa process.  Otherwise, carry on.  

Thanks so much for the re-assurance. My head was all over the place and the "High fraud" label tag placed on my country isn't helping. 

 

I think i will just stop worrying about things like this and concentrate on making sure we have more face time and visits over the year. 

 

 

[pushbrk 12,253]

1 minute ago, AfroKing said:

Thanks so much for the re-assurance. My head was all over the place and the "High fraud" label tag placed on my country isn't helping. 

 

I think i will just stop worrying about things like this and concentrate on making sure we have more face time and visits over the year. 

 

 

Good idea.  Back in 2006, I filed as single as soon as I could.  Used the tax refund to finance my second trip to see my wife in China.