Please tell me how to file TAXES (I-130 pending, spouse abroad)

[scaredCat 0]

Hello dear community, my question is simple but I can’t find straightforward answers. 

 

I (us citizen) married my wife(foreign) in Europe. I filed I-130 with USCIS. 

 

She doesn’t live or work in the USA at the moment.

She had F1 visa couple years ago but she returned back to her country before we got married. She never worked in the USA. 

I live and work in the USA with W2 jobs. 

She obviously doesn’t have SSN or tax id. 

She works in her home country and she has income in her country. 

 

My questions: 

1 - Do I file my tax as married filing jointly? 

2 - Do I need to add her foreign income when filing taxes? If yes, how?

3 - Is she considered my dependent when filing taxes?

4 - Do I get tax deduction for married couple even though my wife is not living in the USA with me right now?

 

Amy guidelines is appreciated. Thank you.

Edited February 13 by scaredCat

[Sundevil70 1]

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

[scaredCat 0]

3 minutes ago, Sundevil70 said:

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

thank you for link, i reviewed it but it made me more confused  

Link says, I can mark my wife as "us resident" but she is not. 

I'm just looking for most plain simple path. 

 

As far as i learned, i should file "married filing seperately" and not include her income, is this correct?

 

much appreciated the help

[Lil bear 4,248]

7 minutes ago, scaredCat said:

thank you for link, i reviewed it but it made me more confused  

Link says, I can mark my wife as "us resident" but she is not. 

I'm just looking for most plain simple path. 

 

As far as i learned, i should file "married filing seperately" and not include her income, is this correct?

 

much appreciated the help

Without getting an ITIN for her, your only option is MFS. You can always refile previously submitted returns  to amend MFS  to MFJ when she is here and has a SSN 

[Dan and Akari 44]

1 - No. Without a SSN or ITIN for her, you can't file jointly  File Married Filing Separately. 

2 - No

3 - Her being a dependent is used for the IRS to determine if you can take a deduction for her.  You can't because she has no SSN or ITIN.  She probably doesn't meet the other criteria of being a dependent anyway.

4 - Not yet.  For the return you file as married separate, you will only get the standard deduction for yourself, or the itemized deduction if it exceeds the standard deduction.  She has no SSN or ITIN and doesn't qualify for getting you another standard deduction.  This is why Lil bear suggested filing an amended return when she arrives in the US and gets her SSN.  THEN you can file married jointly and take a deduction for her on the amended return which may help your tax situation.

 

 

[Dan and Akari 44]

1 minute ago, Dan and Akari said:

1 - No. Without a SSN or ITIN for her, you can't file jointly  File Married Filing Separately. 

2 - No

3 - Her being a dependent is used for the IRS to determine if you can take a deduction for her.  You can't because she has no SSN or ITIN.  She probably doesn't meet the other criteria of being a dependent anyway.

4 - Not yet.  For the return you file as married separate, you will only get the standard deduction for yourself, or the itemized deduction if it exceeds the standard deduction.  She has no SSN or ITIN and doesn't qualify for getting you another standard deduction.  This is why Lil bear suggested filing an amended return when she arrives in the US and gets her SSN.  THEN you can file married jointly and take a deduction for her on the amended return which may help your tax situation.

 

 

Forgot to add that you need to print the completed return, write "NRA" in the field for her SSN, sign the return, and mail it to the IRS.  Keep copies of all supporting documents like the W2's and 1099s because you will need to send those with the completed tax return to NVC when you submit your AOS.

[powerpuff 6,725]

*** Topic moved from CR1/IR1 forum to Tax & Finances during US Immigration as the question is about filing taxes***

[Legend of Summer 23]

11 hours ago, scaredCat said:

Hello dear community, my question is simple but I can’t find straightforward answers. 

 

I (us citizen) married my wife(foreign) in Europe. I filed I-130 with USCIS. 

 

She doesn’t live or work in the USA at the moment.

She had F1 visa couple years ago but she returned back to her country before we got married. She never worked in the USA. 

I live and work in the USA with W2 jobs. 

She obviously doesn’t have SSN or tax id. 

She works in her home country and she has income in her country. 

 

My questions: 

1 - Do I file my tax as married filing jointly? 

2 - Do I need to add her foreign income when filing taxes? If yes, how?

3 - Is she considered my dependent when filing taxes?

4 - Do I get tax deduction for married couple even though my wife is not living in the USA with me right now?

 

Amy guidelines is appreciated. Thank you.

I just file single every year.  

[OldUser 6,855]

20 minutes ago, Legend of Summer said:

I just file single every year.  

Which is clearly wrong? If you're married you have to file MFJ or MFS

[JeanneAdil 6,539]

you have 2 options 

 

1. MFJ or MFS

you are married so single does not work

 

for MFJ the return must be mailed as the supporting documents for marriage  must be originals 

 

2. to do MFJ 

I got a POA from my spouse in lieu of him signing the return (so i could sign his name) and for IRS to send refund to my checking

fill out the W7 with supporting evidence of marriage and her ID as per instructions on the following site as said above 

 

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/taxation-of-nonresident-aliens

 

fill out the 2555 to exclude as much as $120,000 of the  foreign income 

 

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/figuring-the-foreign-earned-income-exclusion#:~:text=For tax year 2023%2C the,the foreign earned income exclusion.

For tax year 2023, the maximum exclusion is $120,000 per person.

 

[milimelo 4,496]

A spouse is never a dependent. 

[PGA 247]

13 hours ago, scaredCat said:

As far as i learned, i should file "married filing seperately" and not include her income, is this correct?

Married filing separate, in my opinion, is the easiest and most straight forward approach. As suggested, you can amend it later but you need to see if the differences between MFS vs MFJ filings are worth it. 

[beloved_dingo 1,979]

7 hours ago, Legend of Summer said:

I just file single every year.  

Then you are filing your taxes wrong, every year. You should be filing as MFJ or MFS. There are some people who can file as HOH as well, despite being married, but that is not common. 

[scaredCat 0]

On 2/13/2024 at 11:24 AM, PGA said:

Married filing separate, in my opinion, is the easiest and most straight forward approach. As suggested, you can amend it later but you need to see if the differences between MFS vs MFJ filings are worth it. 

 

 

On 2/13/2024 at 4:44 PM, beloved_dingo said:

Then you are filing your taxes wrong, every year. You should be filing as MFJ or MFS. There are some people who can file as HOH as well, despite being married, but that is not common. 

 

On 2/12/2024 at 10:05 PM, Lil bear said:

Without getting an ITIN for her, your only option is MFS. You can always refile previously submitted returns  to amend MFS  to MFJ when she is here and has a SSN 

On 2/12/2024 at 11:12 PM, Dan and Akari said:

Forgot to add that you need to print the completed return, write "NRA" in the field for her SSN, sign the return, and mail it to the IRS.  Keep copies of all supporting documents like the W2's and 1099s because you will need to send those with the completed tax return to NVC when you submit your AOS.

 

thank you all..

It looks like i will file married filing seperatly.

2 last questions i have

1 - is it possible to e-file(online) MFS?

2 - will it look bad to uscis because it is not joint? (still married but not jointly)

 

[Dan and Akari 44]

9 minutes ago, scaredCat said:

 

 

 

 

thank you all..

It looks like i will file married filing seperatly.

2 last questions i have

1 - is it possible to e-file(online) MFS?

2 - will it look bad to uscis because it is not joint? (still married but not jointly)

 

1. Since you are filing MFS, you need to print the return to write "NRA" in the field for her SSN and also to sign the return.  To my knowledge, you won't be able to file electronically because of this.  I am mailing my return because in the interest of expediency I used TurboTax and I can't e-file because the software will keep flagging the return as incomplete for e-filing because of my wife's missing SSN on the electronic form.

2. It is my understanding based on other recent posts regarding taxes that this will not affect how your case is viewed