I-751 Questions for our case

[Crazy Cat 45,293]

On 8/4/2025 at 7:18 PM, Janelle K said:

She advised that we filed separately while he was still in England (2022 and 2023) because the deductions from filing jointly would not have offset the taxes owed for his income. We went through consular processing. We didn't live together at all until he moved here.

OK.  That is sometimes a very valid reason to file separately.  That is always a MAJOR consideration for good tax strategy.    I did the same thing myself the year my wife arrived in the US.

Edited August 6 by Crazy Cat

[appleblossom 4,913]

On 8/4/2025 at 8:18 PM, Janelle K said:

She advised that we filed separately while he was still in England (2022 and 2023) because the deductions from filing jointly would not have offset the taxes owed for his income.

Odd advice, he wouldn’t have been taxed twice on it due to the tax treaty in place with the UK. You’d have had to declare it, but then claim a foreign tax credit for whatever tax he had already paid.

 

Income tax is usually higher in the UK so nothing should have been due. I’m in one of the higher tax states but still don’t pay a penny on my UK earnings in the US, I just declare them on my US return but there’s no tax due on them. 
 

It might be worth double checking that decision and amending if it turns out he wouldn’t have owed any taxes after all, it would help in your current situation but also you could get a chunk of money back. 
 

Good luck. 
 

 

Edited August 6 by appleblossom

[alegra 2]

On 8/1/2025 at 12:07 PM, Janelle K said:

Hi! I think I'm good to post in here? lol 

I also have some I-751 questions. 
I feel like I'm climbing up a mountain about how to file the evidence for this one. I don't know how to prove our marriage on paper cause we're both ADHD and have been procrastinating on a lot of stuff. 

 

Bit of backstory : 

• Husband has no driving license or state issued ID (we just kept putting it off and he's dyslexic so he panics at the thought of the permit test)
• Car insurance won't let me put him on the policy until he has a license or permit number 
• I bought my house before we even met, I don't feel comfortable putting his name on my house when he hasn't financially contributed to it
• Same thing for the car - I bought a new one in 2024 due to the old one crapping out. Paid cash for it. They wouldn't put his name on the title because he doesn't have a US license and he didn't financially contribute to it, so...idk?
• I only filed joint taxes for 2024. We married in 2022, and he moved here in December of 2023. Accountant said I couldn't file joint for 2023 because he wasn't in the US long enough. I filed married-separate for 22 and 23. 
• He's unemployed (with light freelance work online). He's essentially a stay at home spouse), so no evidence of joint income
• We do have a joint checking account which I pay our cell phone & trash bill out of - but it's only me contributing to the account. I don't direct deposit my wages into it because most of our finances are separate by a mutual choice. 
• We don't really travel. Only went to visit my mom about 3 weeks after he arrived. Lots of photos, videos and receipts of that, but we haven't gone anywhere since then
• We don't take a ton of photos together, mostly cause we're together 24/7 now and didn't see much of a point? idk - we are weird lol
• No kids and no plans to have kids
• Utility companies won't put both our names on anything. We have AT&T, Xfinity and National Grid - all of them refused, not sure what to do on that. He IS an authorized user on all three accounts
• We're both extremely introverted and keep to ourselves. We have absolutely no friends where we live, his family is all in England and mine is on the other side of the US. All of our friends are online only, and have never actually met any of them in person, so we don't know who to ask for an affidavit. 
• We are friendly towards our neighbors but not sure if any of them know us well enough to be willing to write an affidavit. 

How screwed are we? 😰

 

Is there anything I can do about the utilities not wanting to list two names? I asked them about it in our I-130 evidence gathering, and was told "Only one name may be listed". Attorney told me to get a formal letter from the companies explaining why they won't do that but I've literally never heard of a business ever doing that before. Is that even a real thing? Or can I just print off the webapge showing he's an authorized user?

 

Same thing for the credit cards too I guess. He's an authorized user on several of my accounts, but he doesn't ever use the cards. Can i just print off the webpage showine he's on the account or do I really need a letter? 

 

I read somewhere that I can include a letter explaining our living situation and why our evidence may be kind of weak, but I'm guessing we're probably going to be selected for an interview 😒

The list of documents our Attorney sent us is daunting and making me panic a little bit. 

 

 

sorry for the wall of text I guess I'm infodumping and panicking a bit lmao

You need to be smart with the evidence. Get him an ID; it does not have to be a DL. That will show residence and address as well. Show any letters he has received at the address you lived together at and include a USPS informed delivery screenshot (the longer the better so if you can find a piece of mail that is years back). Travel somewhere, even if it's the next city, and take photos. Invites a friend to dinner and takes a few photos. Any letters or cards you have received from family members—include them. Have joint memberships like Costco, Sam's Club, AAA, AARP, and gym memberships. You can have family members write affidavits.