visa123

Yay! Got my EAD in the mail yesterday and then received my interview date today

ok, well a big part of your problem was that you didn't write his income on there (I realize you didn't know it) but they would want to see that. If you'd written, for example, "$200" for income, they probably still would have asked for tax returns, but at that point you'd send a letter saying he didn't have to file taxes because he only made $200. That didn't happen, of course, and now you don't know how much he made, if he had to file taxes, and to top it off, someone stole his SSN. Given this is the situation you're in, I'd say get the letter. Have you filed a report of any kind for the identity theft? If so, I'd send a copy of that too.

Basically your choices are to send a letter stating he wasn't required to file taxes, or to file taxes. You can't do either of those. So your only choice is to explain why and be prepared to prove it. I hope it works.

Yes thats what he has done. the CPA wrote a letter confirming the identity theft and that we are in the process of getting all the necessary information to refile. He also gave his name and his phone number. I realize we could have just guessed an estimated income but at the time we had no idea so we didn't put anything. I guess we will hope for the best thanks for all your advice and I'll update when I hear back !

If the lawyer was told "I didn't file taxes because I didn't have any income" and then said "great, write a letter saying you didn't make any money", then I don't think the lawyer lied. It wasn't until after you had already filed your AOS that you started second guessing whether or not he should have filed taxes. Correct?

What you need to establish is whether or not your husband made enough money to be required to file taxes. It doesn't sound like you've figured that out yet, have you?

Without that information, what else can you do but send a letter saying the taxes are in the process of being filed?

Yes you are correct. At the time of filing we did not know how much money he made because we didn't file taxes. so on the forms we wrote that he was self employed but didnt fill out the income part. My lawyer told me that because we had a co sponsor that we didn't need to provide tax returns. I guess she was surprised to when they sent the RFE for them.. however when we went to file taxes when we realized we needed them, we realized someone had stolen his identity and filed using his SSN. My lawyers exact words when I asked her if the letter from the CPA would work was "they aren't going to argue or deny you over identity theft, thats something out of your control"

I answered this before.

Your lawyer LIED to you. You should report her to the bar. I am not sure what "top-rated" means, but we see shady layers here all of the time. is it an immigration lawyer? "Top-rated" by whom? for what?

If you read the I-864 instructions, it will become very clear to you. You don't need to pay someone to misread very clear instructions.

I already told you a few times that if the I-495 is denied the I-130 should still be in play. The I-130 is $420. The I-485 is $1070. If denied and you refile, you will have to pay $1070 again.

I suggested you make the lawyer pay to refile.

Please fire your lawyer. I bet your lawyer will be more than happy to take you money and file frivolous motions to reopen and file motions to appear in court, all the while charging you more and more.

This website would have told you to file taxes before filing for free.

I hope more people respond so my information is confirmed. Then maybe you will believe it.

anyways, what did you mean by "apparently" have to leave in 30 days.

I answered this before.

Your lawyer LIED to you. You should report her to the bar. I am not sure what "top-rated" means, but we see shady layers here all of the time. is it an immigration lawyer? "Top-rated" by whom? for what?

If you read the I-864 instructions, it will become very clear to you. You don't need to pay someone to misread very clear instructions.

I already told you a few times that if the I-495 is denied the I-130 should still be in play. The I-130 is $420. The I-485 is $1070. If denied and you refile, you will have to pay $1070 again.

I suggested you make the lawyer pay to refile.

Please fire your lawyer. I bet your lawyer will be more than happy to take you money and file frivolous motions to reopen and file motions to appear in court, all the while charging you more and more.

This website would have told you to file taxes before filing for free.

I hope more people respond so my information is confirmed. Then maybe you will believe it.

the lawyer will not pay to refile if everything you are saying is true.. I know this for a fact , if she knowingly lied to me she definitely will have no problem just not taking the blame and dropping my case altogether.

Yes she is an immigration lawyer, her firm was highly rated on the immigration lawyers website. I also called a few other lawyers to get their input and they all agreed a letter from the CPA would do. they said if it didnt they will simply ask me to bring the correct info to the interview

The letter will say (apparently) that you have 30 days to leave, yes or file a motion to reopen (which I believe is not the good path to follow because you have to prove that information that was available was not properly examined which isn't the case). But, it won't tell you to refile the I-485, which is what, I think, you should do. You can refile, because the I-485 will be denied without prejudice (which means you are not banned/inadmissible but rather you failed to submit proper paperwork).

Whoever told you that your husband didn't need taxes when you have a co-sponsor completely lied, YES. I hope you can see that now. Your husband is the primary sponsor, even if is below the poverty line, and any sponsor must have taxes or make below the tax threshold. Also, to repeat, failure to respond properly to an RFE usually results in a denial, as you an see in that case I posted.

what I don't understand is how a top rated lawyer would put their company at risk by LYING to a client... i was told from the beginning that as long as we had a joint sponsor we didn't need to provide tax returns. It just really makes no sense to me. I'm not saying your wrong but somethings gotta give.. i mean lying to a client and providing false information is fraud, and I made sure I went to a top rated lawyer that had dealt with cases similar to mine

The letter will say (apparently) that you have 30 days to leave, yes or file a motion to reopen (which I believe is not the good path to follow because you have to prove that information that was available was not properly examined which isn't the case). But, it won't tell you to refile the I-485, which is what, I think, you should do. You can refile, because the I-485 will be denied without prejudice (which means you are not banned/inadmissible but rather you failed to submit proper paperwork).

Whoever told you that your husband didn't need taxes when you have a co-sponsor completely lied, YES. I hope you can see that now. Your husband is the primary sponsor, even if is below the poverty line, and any sponsor must have taxes or make below the tax threshold. Also, to repeat, failure to respond properly to an RFE usually results in a denial, as you an see in that case I posted.

well lets hope this letter works then, or they will request an RFE. If I have to refile .. do I have to pay the $1500 fees again? I assume my lawyer will be quite surprised if I get denied as she was the one who said we didn't need taxes in the first place. I hope she will take the responsibility of making a mistake if that is truely the case

I know you love your husband, and I know you are stressed out with baby on the way. But all of this "I don't understand why they would do this" or "I don't understand why we even need tax returns with a co-sponsor" etc is NOT helping your case, and in fact, harming it.

Relax, and take a breath.

If they deny your case, you will REFILE I-485, as I said. The I-130 will still be in play so you don't have to pay twice for that at least. They will deny without prejudice based on failure to submit correct evidence.

It is also possible that they will send a second RFE.

There is nothing you can do but wait and have a plan to refile. I hope I am wrong and they let you show it at interview.

Please fire your lawyer. S/he is the one who told you to file without proper evidence and also had you lie on your forms and say your husband is unemployed.

Relax and don't cry. But please, take this seriously and have a plan.

ok sorry if i come off really stressed out. I realize we should have been more organized from the beginning. you are right, my responses are not helping the situation. I guess the best thing to do at this point is send in what I have and hope for the best. I just saw the link you posted the person in it stated that they were required to leave within 30 days of being denied. Wasn't really clear on that

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/261614-possible-case-denied/page__view__findpost__p__4077430

Here is someone that was denied for failure to respond properly to an RFE.

so that is our fate then? they will deny my case and I will have to leave the country? I am in tears right now. I love my husband more than anything and I want our baby girl to be with her family

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/261614-possible-case-denied/page__view__findpost__p__4077430

Here is someone that was denied for failure to respond properly to an RFE.

so that is our fate then? they will deny my case and I will have to leave the country? I am in tears right now. I love my husband more than anything and I want our baby girl to be with her family

Good luck with it. At least you are giving an adequate reason - they may just require you to present them at the interview.

Of course that may depend on who receives it and if they have the ability to logically process information.

lol what do you mean by that?

They will deny because failure to properly respond to an RFE within the allotted time results in denial. They gave you 87 days or something to comply, and furthermore, you should have known you needed to comply by reading the instructions when you first filed. I have seen people get denied for improperly responding to an RFE. It can and does happen, just like we say.

I am sorry if I come off mean but your bad attitude has harmed you. This was all explained in your other thread. I told you you would need to file taxes and you argued and argued. It turns out I was right. I am telling you what will most likely happen and you argue again. I wonder what will happen.

ETA: The letter is NOT asking for "reason why you don't have them." You are misinterpreting it. The letter says if you were statutorily not required to file taxes, you don't need them if you can show the statute. I am late is not a good excuse, as I have explained.

my bad attitude? I hardly have a bad attitude.. it could be a lot worse considering im about to have a baby in 3 weeks and im dealing with all of this. You said I needed to file taxes and what did i do??

I said PERSONAL OPINIONS ASIDE. I don't need to be lectured, thats not what i came to this forum for... I came here to get some helpful advice from people who have been there. We called the state tax board... someone filed taxes under my husbands name and SIN so theres no way we could even file. I have called multiple immigration lawyers recently, all said if I respond to the RFE with a letter from the CPA stating that this is the case then they will accept it. I don't understand why i even have a co sponsor if they are solely relying on my husbands tax forms to either deny or accept my case. I was told when we first filed that if we had a co sponsor it would be fine. So I guess your saying all the immigration lawyers are lying?

and maybe you should take into consideration the sensitivity of the case before attacking. We have a brand new baby on the way andall of this has been very stressful.

I may have argued but the very next day after I posted that, we went in to file our taxes.

So what are you suggesting? we just don't send ANYTHING in.. that seems ludacris. The immigration attorneys i have talked to all said a letter from the CPA will do, and they will request our tax forms at the interview especially since I have a cosponsor

No, I don't unfortunately. I think that is the only choice, but like I said, I am not hopeful.

Not that it matters now, but your lawyer did you a serious disservice by letting you apply before you had finished all those back taxes. That lawyer put your case and your status in jeopardy.

If you are denied, the I-130 will still be in play and you will refile the I-485. I'd ask your lawyer to pay for the refiling fee, if it comes to that.

I do not see why they would deny my case simply because we don't have our tax returns RIGHT at this moment. they requested either a) our most recent tax return or b) a letter stating why we don't have them. We called the state tax board to see how to file for 2011 and were told that someone had used my husbands social insurance number to file taxes so thats why its taken a little longer to get them in, because we have to file for identity theft before anything. My grandparents (who are US citizens) are co-sponsoring as well.

I hope so, but my understanding is typically the deadline is the deadline, and if you don't respond in time they will close your case. Crossing fingers for you.

we are sending in evidence . they asked for either a letter stating why we haven't filed taxes or our most recent tax return. we are providing them with a letter that states we are in the process of filing and our CPA is providing a lettter as well. hope it works !

my lawyer did. Not sure what our other options are at this point. do you have any other suggestions?

hi everyone! I had posted another topic a couple of weeks ago but wasn't sure whether to comment on that or start a new topic so here it goes! I had originally posted about a request for RFE we received which asked for either a) my husbands most recent tax returns or b) a letter from him stating why he does not need to file taxes. All personal opinions aside please. We realized that he should have been filing taxes as he is self employed so we hired a CPA to help. out. having a new baby on the way (she is due in 3 weeks!) we were short on money so to save the accountant time, I have taken on the hard part by myself (organizing all bank account statements, entering them into monthly spreadsheets for the past three years, and organzing all receipts) Our RFE is due on friday and there is no way this will all be finished by then. My question to everyone is, will a letter with the name and phone number of our CPA stating we are in the process of filing our most recent tax returns, do? we will definitely have our taxes sorted out by the time of the interview but I just don't see any other option. We have a co sponsor ad they included their most recent tax return. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

hi everyone! just an update/ new question! So we went to a CPA and paid the fees to begin filing. As we are short on money right now with the new baby due in 3 weeks I have taken on the work load of organizing everything (making spreadsheets for every bank account and cash for every month since 2009... sigh) but anyways this is quite a lengthy job and I will not be able to complete it and have our taxes in by friday (whcih is when the RFE is due) my lawyer said that I can provide a letter from my husband stating that we are in the process of filing our taxes with a CPA (also included the name and phone number of our CPA). Does anyone know if this will work for the RFE for now? I know they will probably ask to see the most recent tax return at the time of the interview but it will definitely be finished by then! I have been working hard at this for 2 weeks straight now so I'm really hoping the letter will work!

wow so we have contacted the IRS to find out what he owes and which tax dates he is missing and apparently someone has been filing taxes under my husbands name! not sure what we can do about this anyone have any advice? I guess this wont be a job that can be cleaned up by the deadline for the RFE

See, no biggy.

Get that taken care of right away and you should have no problem responding to the RFE on time.

Yay! so glad I found this website. It definitely rescued me from a sticky situation!

Just an update!! We called a CPA and apparently its going to be simple we just have to go in and bring all supporting documents and we might not even have to file for 2010

also 1 more question for everyone.... if we go in and find out we owe money for taxes that we cannot pay right away is there something we can send to the UCIS saying we are in the process of filing taxes ?

Nope no extension. Filing taxes takes less than a day.

Yes but filing taxes and back taxes -- from 2008-2012. Do you know how much it costs? given we hire a CPA since it will be complicated

does anybody know if we can get an extension for the RFE? its due in two weeks and I don't know if we will be able to file all of our taxes by then.. I thought they would ask for the RFE at the time of interview

Ok...

So whichever way we want to look at things and all the ins and outs don't change what needs to be done right away, and that is put everything into the hands of a tax pro and find out of you actually were required to file.

We can sit here and speculate all day long, but bottom line is that it isn't worth taking the chance.

If he had money coming to his pockets from any source at all the odds are that he was supposed to file.

true. thanks! I think thats what we will do then. I have talked with a tax pro and have a free consult so fingers crossed it goes smoothly and we will be back on track!

My thought was that if his profit and loss sheet showed that the business was a financial loss, he might not be required to file taxes. When I did a quick check, it said that you had to net $400 in income to be required to file. And, maybe he didn't net anything. So, if an accountant could help them prepare a profit and loss statement for those years, (assuming he doesn't already have it), then perhaps he really doesn't need to file.

Yes that is what i was thinking to because we haven't really made much money. we have a lot of credit card debt and the business only JUST started gaining significant revenue