Gaijinsan

Long story short: don't worry about it.

Hi,

I filed an immigration visa for my spouse. We finished a review of National Visa Center (NVC) and will have a visa interview at end of this month.

NVC needs additional financial evidence at the visa interview listed below:

[x] A written statement indicating why you did not file 2012 Federal income tax returns.

[x] 2012 Federal income tax returns, IRS printout, or Letter 1722 issued by the IRS.

I have dual nationality (us and japan). I was born in US and left US with my parents before I was one year old. I had been in Japan until I moved to US at this year for my new job. So, I never work in US and didn’t pay federal tax before. (Off course, I paid Japanese taxes.) I filed a document to NVC stating why I didn’t filing federal tax for years.

I talked to IRS officer and she issued document of "verification of non-filing" of 2012 tax period. She said this document was good enough for NVC demand. Again, I asked NVC to confirm this IRS document met the need and they answered their process was already finished and asked to US Embassy.

Then, I e-mailed to US Embassy in Tokyo about our situation. They answered we needed to submit additional financial documents because document issued by IRS is not proved the reason that I did not pay federal tax.

I don’t see what I can do because the IRS officer approved this document that meets NVC’s needs listed above..

What do you think I need additional financial documents? If so, please let me know which document I need.

There isn’t much time left before our visa interview. We need your help!!

Your fundamental problem is this: you were supposed to file a US tax return (whether you realized it or not), and you didn't. What the IRS has given you is a docum,en which confirms you didn't file a tax return. It doesn't say you weren't required to file a tax return.

As a US citizen, assuming your income exceeded the filing thresholds and regardless of the location earned, you are obligated to file a Federal tax return.

I suggest you quickly file. There's a very good chance you wouldn't owe anything, anyway.

Currently we have two residences. We are in OKC for about 6 months and I can get the mail from our So Cal residence every month or so. We currently do not have an open case and we will file to remove conditions one month after we return to So Cal.

Should we still update our addresses via form AR-11?

Are you still using your other address as your "address of record" for financial correspondence, tax purposes, etc.?

If so, my non-expert opinion is that you should NOT update via AR-11 as your domicile has not changed.

Looking at the form there is an option to specify a temporary address, in case you do decide to go down that route.

I work as an independent contractor. I am supposed to pay taxes on my own. They are not automatically deducted from my paychecks.

I just filed some late taxes last month, and I'm actually paying more than I should because I didn't claim rent, phone, internet, transportation, etc. as expenses.

I didn't claim them as expenses, because I wanted my income earned # on my tax returns to look higher. I did this because I feel that the higher the # I have, the less chance that they'll deny my fiancee, and eventual wife, from staying in the US with me.

Unfortunately this means that I had to pay more money. Am I completely wrong about the way things work? Please let me know if you understand what I was trying to do. I live in New York, and I know that I'll eventually be asked for the last 3 years of tax returns, so I just wanted to look as strong as possible there. I plan on having a sponsor also, but I just wanted to try to make things look good.

Thanks for reading

Well, it depends on what your taxable income would have been if you had claimed all of the deductions. If it's still over the support threshold, it won't really matter -- especially if it is comfortably over.

1) It looks like I have to send the forms to a lockbox in Chicago. I believe that in a very recent change, they are no longer accepted here in Japan.

Yes, unfortunately. It's too bad because when Tokyo processed I-130s it was essentially instantaneous, especially in a case like yours.

It requires a money order for payment, so I was thinking about sending the packet to my mom and she could get the money order and send everything to Chicago. Is it a problem if the package is postmarked from America even though I'm in Japan?

Not at all.

2) Japanese documents must be translated, but can I just do it myself? I've lived in Japan for a long time and I'm very proficient at translating... I've even done freelance translation from time to time... Of course, I'll write the proper certification note, but will the RFE me if I do the translations myself? I'm really worried about this one...

Not a problem at all. That's what I did. The embassy even provides translation templates for those not-so-proficient.

3) Whenever I write my address in English, I always include romanized words for prefecture, city and divisions in my address. For example, I live in Shiga Prefecture, but I would normally write Shiga-ken. Is that ok? Should I just write Shiga? It looks really weird (incorrect?) when I write my address without these words. Any advice from those with Japanese spouses would be really helpful...

I have always written it out in the Japanese way (in romaji, of course) without problems. This applies to immigration, taxes, you name it.

After going in for an interview at the US Embassy in Tokyo this Tuesday, my wife received her visa in the mail the following morning. Talk about record processing time!

Thanks very much to everyone in this forum for their help!

It's an even bigger testament to the speed of the Japan Post Office!

So, my girlfriend was a student from April 2008-March 2010

and she worked in a hair salon from August 2010-May 2012

Can she put for her student time like:

Street and Number: None (or should she just list the name of the school)

Occupation: Student

From 4/08 To 3/10

Yes, that's fine.

Don't over-sweat the G-325A. It is one of the least important parts of the process. As long as you don't make up false information, I would rate it as extremely unlikely to cause you any problems.

I'm flying to LAX in a few days and I'm nervous. After CBP takes my sealed envelope and passport, I will be going to a separate room right? What's going to happen in there!!!!??????? Do they interview me? Ask some questions?? I think I'm over-thinking, but like I don't remember my parents in law's real name and stuff. They are SO long and can't even pronounce them. Should I memorize them just in case?

My wife came into LAX on Saturday. SQ12 from Narita... wheels down on the runway at 1:14 PM, she and the kids were out of customs at 2:45. (I should add that they came out alongside other economy class passengers from the same flight, so they didn't have any undue delays relative to others; though overall it seemed to be a busy time for arrivals). No questions or anything, it just took 10 minutes because there was a little extra paperwork to do, she said. We have a new US address from the time the visa was approved, so part of that was updating that.

Totally hassle free she said, so my advice is relax and find other things to worry about

Thanks for sharing your experience! I guess we will continue with the plan.

I did this before (I'm a a USC) and there were no problems, but honestly I was a little concerned with my fiance doing the same.

Just as an side -- Not sure where you are flying from/to, but Singapore Airlines actually has reasonably priced one-way tickets NRT-LAX.

Should be no problem using a round-trip ticket from the US immigration perspective. Some airlines, if they really wanted to be nitpicky, could try to say that intentionally not using the return leg is a violation of the contract of carriage, but I wouldn't worry too much about it. When I flew from Japan to return to the US, I used only half of a round-trip ticket. My wife (the immigrant) and kids used one-way tickets.

Hi all,

does anyone know of tax deductions for the US spouse who is married to a foreign woman and bringing her to the US on an immigrant visa?

For example, are any travel expenses deductable? Support payments? The wedding? (in Manila)

Thanks

If you are living overseas and then you and your spouse move to the US so that you can take on a new job here (or a transferred position here), your moving and travel expenses may be deductible. Consult a qualified tax professional.

I will have to be contrary and difficult and disagree.

Translate in the best way that preserves the meaning (although most of the vital information is probably just names and dates, like on the family register - which of course can be translated/transliterated exactly) and do it herself with the signed statement that the foregoing is a true and complete translation.

We didn't have any divorce decrees in our process, but we translated the koseki, etc., all ourselves and had zero problems.

I'm filling out the form G-325A for the I-129F, and I'm stumped on how my fiancee (the beneficiary) should sign hers. She's Japanese, and usually signs documents using either pictographs or her hanko (kind of like a personal seal). Should she use the Roman alphabet version of her signature, the pictograph version or her seal? Or a combination of them maybe?

My wife signed in Japanese (katakana + kanji for her first name).

I would definitely NOT use the seal anywhere in the process however.

My wife and I are living in Japan and we are waiting for our joint sponsors completed I-864 to arrive in the mail from the US. I am currently unemployed and looking over my I-864 has caused me some worries. We did not include assets because our assets do not qualify for the 5x the amount over the poverty line. At this point we are relying 100% on our joint sponsor who makes well above the poverty line for all dependents. It just makes me nervous to see so many zeroes on my(petitioner) I-864. Should this be a problem?

For the record, it is three times the income level for your wife, in case that makes any difference. In any case, as long as your joint sponsor is in place it shouldn't make any difference.

We started this process while living in Japan and it seemed to expedite things considering DCF had only recently been removed last year. Would there be any ramifications if I were to leave back to the US before my wife's visa is issued? At the rate we are going I will most likely have to leave before she is given an appointment for an interview due to upcoming work. I am mainly concerned about the interview itself, and any problems that might arise at the POE.

Should not be a problem at all. I went with my wife to her interview, but that was only (a) for moral support and (b) out of curiosity. POE won't be a problem, provided you are already in the US when your wife arrives. (They probably won't ask her about your whereabouts, but if they do, she can just say "He came back already and is living in X/working at Y".)

Immigration issues aside, it is probably financially advantageous if you file a joint tax return, particularly if your personal income falls under the foreign excluded income limit.

Yes we do admit that we got like 2 questions wrong but we are only human we do not have a memory chip in our brains

I guess the key piece of missing information is what these "like 2 questions" were. What might seem very minor to you may have raised major red flags for the consular officer.

If you don't feel comfortable discussing the details of those questions on the forum, that's fine, but you should probably have a consultation with an immigration attorney before proceeding.

My question is... Can I use my prior orders, which showed me going to Japan and staying there for three years, as proof of my "presence" in the US. Once again sorry if I'm posting in the wrong place but I do have a CR-1 pending... Thanks in advance.

Congratulations!

In my experience, the embassy in Tokyo is not particularly strict about checking this. I had two children born in Japan and in neither case did they even ask for any proof that I had spent the requisite time in the US, aside from my passport.

Just to be safe I would suggest sending a copy of your driver's license or maybe a copy of a school record (high school or college transcript). That will be more than sufficient. My advice is to not over-worry this one.

I presume you'll also want to get a passport for your daughter at the same time? If so, unless you are planning to be at the embassy in person, send her a notarized statement of consent for your daughter to receive a passport.

The US Embassy website has all the info you'll need if you haven't seen it:

http://japan.usembassy.gov/e/acs/tacs-crba-checklist.html

I know it'll differ from policy to policy, but will I run into any trouble putting my husband on my health insurance plan without an official marriage license in English?

The best thing to do is check with the HR people at your new compnany. It is possible that your husband will need a Social Security Number to be added, so if he doesn't have one yet you may have to wait a little while if he doesn't already have one.

The translation can be done by anyone competent in both languages. See the format I copied here. The " certification " is simply the statement you see here. This has been used many times & is accepted by USCIS.

Certification by Translator

I [typed name], certify that I am fluent (conversant) in the English and ________ languages, and that the above/attached document is an accurate translation of the document attached entitled ______________________________.

Signature_________________________________

Date Typed Name

Address

Just to add, the US Embassy in Tokyo has provided nice templates for translating either the short or long ("fancy") versions of the Japanese marriage certificate.

http://japan.usembassy.gov/e/acs/tacs-7114a.html

Look under "Translating Your Marriage Certificate"

With the template and the above declaration, there's no need to pay someone else to do this for you.

Even when you live in another country for 8 years and has filed Aussie tax returns for the years she has worked in the Australia you still need to file in the USA as well even though she hasn't been there working don't they consider that double dipping? trying to get this matter cleared up so we can get approval .

Your wife will probably be able to exclude some foreign income (through the foreign income and/or housing exclusions). If she had employment income in excess of that amount, then she can potentially use foreign tax credits to offset any foreign income taxes paid against US tax liability.

As has been noted, all US citizens (and permanent residents) face US tax liability on their worldwide incomes, with provisions as the above designed to minimize or eliminate double-taxation burden. If you become an LPR, you will be subject to these same requirements.

Hello!

I'm going to e-mail the relevant Affidavit of Support forms to my father to sponsor my husband.

Along with the form to be completed by my father, I'll e-mail my father my I-864.

Can my father mail these forms directly to the NVC so that I never see it? I think that he might not want me to see all his assets.

Sorry, Rebecca, I used DCF so I can't comment from experience on mailing directly to NVC, but another option to consider would be to have him send it to you in a sealed envelope and then you just mail that sealed envelope along with the rest of your package. Of course, he'd have to trust that you didn't open it.

I've read the tax discussions on this site, and have made up my mind to file my taxes as 'Married'.

Does anyone know what the process is to obtain an ITIN for my wife? She has never been to the US before and does not have an SSN.

How long does it take to obtain an ITIN?

Have others successfully done this before while their spouse is abroad?

Search the web for "W-7 instructions" and all of your questions will be answered.

I can tell you from personal experience that if your husband or wife is from a country that is not part of the Japanese visa waver program then you CANNOT enter the country with a US Green card. You will need visa or you will be detained and forced to buy a ticket back to your country of origin.

You can however transit in Japan with no problem, as long as you don't plan to leave the airport.

All correct. The OP has a one-day layover, which is going to be a problem if it includes an overnight stay. (I assume the flight is connecting at Narita.) There's no transit hotel (as in Singapore) or anywhere else to stay in the pre-immigration area overnight, unless something there has changed VERY recently.

In this layman's opinion, no need for a joint sponsor, especially if your current income is comfortably above 125%. Just attach the explanation that you did not file tax returns for those earlier years because you were a student and your income was not high enough to require filing.

[*]My New York State drivers license (renewed in 2009 and good for another couple of years)

What address do you have listed on the license? Have you used that address as a permanent mailing address in the US?

So you suggest putting a Japanese address on #18 "Address in the United States where your relative intends to live"? Surely I'm misinterpreting your advice.

This should 100% be an address in the U.S. unless you want to risk an RFE or USCIS questioning your intelligence as it couldn't be more clearly stated what info they want.

As to the OP, I would suggest using your parents address if you are trying to fly through the process and being honest and just put a city/state if you can afford a delay of a few weeks (which honestly might not happen...I have no idea if they would RFE that).

When I filed the I-130 (at the embassy back in those sepia-colored days when DCF was still available in Japan) I listed my parents' address. At the time we didn't even have a set timeline for moving, so that was the best I could do. The officer at the embassy did mention words to the effect of, "Yeah, we have to get something from you on that one, so it can't just be left blank, but it isn't binding or anything."

Obviously it can't be a US address. Anyone suggesting otherwise has not read the question: "Address in the United States where your relative intends to live." Unless there's a secret takeover plan I'm not aware of...