K-2 Follow To Join & Taxes

[Kawika & Michelle 108]

Hi Folks,

 

I just got married over the weekend & am in the process of updating my benefits to include my wife & updating my W-4 forms. I am planning to go with "Married Filing Jointly" even though my wife will likely not work for the first couple of years that she is here. She has two children still in the Philippines. Her oldest will be staying with his father while her youngest (4 years old) will be coming over next May on a K-2 Follow To Join VISA. My question is...do I add him as a dependent for my W-4? I am currently supporting him financially in the Philippines. Or do I add him as a dependent next May when he enters the US? 

 

On a different note...do I need to adopt him for him to be able to stay in the US? Are there benefits for this or reasons I shouldn't? Do I need to adopt him to add him on to my medical benefits for my work or can he be added as a step child? Would we need the consent of his father if I decided to adopt him?

 

Any insight on all of this would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks!

 

Kawika

[Kawika & Michelle 108]

Found the answer to the W-4 part:

 

"To qualify for the child tax credit, the child must be under age 17 as of December 31, must be your dependent who generally lives with you for more than half the year, and must have the required social security number."

 

So based on the legal definition, he will not qualify as a dependent until he arrives in the US & we request a SSN for him.

[Boiler 45,672]

You do not need to adopt and could be major issue, certainly something to review with your financial and legal advisors.

[Lemonslice 4,886]

From the source:

 

https://apps.irs.gov/app/vita/content/globalmedia/overview_of_the_rules_for_claiming_4012.pdf