mbanner

Hi,

You got it all wrong.

Changing from "single" to "married filing separately" will increase your taxes because you will lose deductions and exemptions and have a compressed tax table which exposes more of your gross income to taxes.

Your husband does not have to file taxes for any years where he was not an LPR. He does not need to file for 2010-2013 when you were married. However, he can volunteer to be a US tax payers for those years and file a joint tax return with you.

Here is why filing your taxes jointly with your husband for 2011-2013 (last three tax years that you have been married) is the smart move. Your husband is from Pakistan where the average annual salary is about $2000 - $4000. If you file jointly with your husband (if he had an average Pakistani salary), you will end up with a lower tax liability than filing as single. You would actually get a tax refund for 2011 and 2012.

Your husband needs a social security number to file taxes. Since he will not have one by April 15, 2014, you have no choice but to file as "married filing separately." After he gets his SSN, you will want to amend your taxes for years 2011, 2012, and 2013. Enjoy your refunds.

Best of luck.

Guy with a graduate tax degree

(To anyone reading this. Please do not PM me with your tax questions. I will not answer them. This disclosure is necessary because I get tons of people asking for free help at this time of year.)

Hi there aaron2020, thank you for letting me know about this. I will share this information with my husband, and amend my taxes for the years when we were married. I did not know I could do this... Thank you again for taking the time to answer.

Hi folks, thank you so much for your help. First of all, I will amend my tax return from 2012 from 'single' to 'married filing separate' and for this year, I will file as 'married filing separate' because I would have to pay less taxes that way.

Thank you, everyone!

Hi everyone, thank you for your replies. I have been married since 2010. But I filed my taxes for the first time last year, and I filed as single since my husband wasn't here and I didn't have a SSN for him. However, the last time were were together was in the middle of 2011. If this additional info changes your answers, please let me know.

Also, if I file 'married filing separately,' does he need to file taxes as well this year?

Thanks again!

Hi Everyone, I forgot to post the update here but my husband made it to the US on March 1, 2014. He got his visa exactly one week after the interview (no AP!). I just wanted to let everyone know who is in the process to keep your head up! Best wishes.

Thank you, thank you! I hope everyone who is waiting is reunited with their loved ones soon. Do not give up!!

Congratulations mbanner!! Certainly good news and glad to see a male not get an AP. I want to ask a question. My apologies if you explained before, but I tried going through your posts but could not find an answer. My question: Why was your case sent back to USCIS for further review?

Thanks for any info you can provide.

They never told us why it went back to USCIS for further review.

One day, I just got a letter telling me that the case was sent back to NVC and to continue sending all the docs there.

Everyone, thank you so much for your congrats! I am so happy I can share some good news with the VJ community. I usually only have questions to contribute but I finally got to share some good news. I'l post an update when my husband is here.

Hey everyone,

I just wanted to take a moment to say thanks to everyone who ever helped me on VJ. My husband had his interview 2 days ago and it went well. The officer told him that he will be getting the visa in a week.

I JUST WANTED TO SAY THHAANNKKK YYYOOUUU and I pray that everyone is reunited with their loved ones soon.

Ok, thank you NLR

Hey everyone, once again, thank you for your responses.

NLR, what if I get a job before then? Would I still need to re-do the AOS package? The visa interview is literally a month away and I am actively looking for a job right now.

Thanks again, everyone. I really appreciate your help.

Hey everyone, thank you for your prompt responses.

I do have a joint sponsor. None of his information has changed. So I am good with that.

So you guys are saying I have to resubmit my AOS package?

The first two times I called NVC regarding the RFEs, they told me that I can resubmit the AOS package if I want but I can also just send in my proof of employment. So I chose the latter and sent in my proof of employment only.

Now, this last time that I got the RFE (which I'm trying to determine is a real RFE or not), I haven't called them yet.

I was trying to figure out if it was a real RFE or not and that is why I am here today.

So anyways, anyone else have any ideas? Is it a real RFE or not?

Sorry for any confusion. Thanks, again.

Hey Everyone,

My husband and I are happily waiting for our interview at the end of January 2014 (yay!).

However, I had one question. After submitting the i-864 packet, I got an RFE. I mailed the documents for that RFE and the supporting documents for the DS-260 on the same day.

Two weeks later, I got a financial evidence checklist email with the exact same RFE as before but this time, telling me not to mail the documents but just to give them to my spouse so he can take them to the visa interview. The email also stated that I will be notified when an interview date has been set.

Then, 5 days after, I got another financial evidence checklist email with a blank checklist and at the end, it says that the NVC has received my information and placed it in my file and that they will notify me once the case has been sent to the relevant U.S. embassy / consulate.

Then, 10 days after that, I got an email letting me know when the visa interview will be.

So, my question is, does my husband need to take additional documents for the RFE? The RFE was asking for my paystubs the first two times. Also, my employment history is random. When I first submitted the i-864, I was self-employed. Then, when I submitted the additional docs, I was working for someone else so I submitted those. Now, I am unemployed.

Should I be worried about this or is this one of those false RFEs that I've seen some people talk about on VJ?

Any help would would be greatly appreciated.

lol!

Darnell and Naina, thank you for the quick responses.

After reading your comments, I went back to the VJ posts where I had seen packet 3.5 mentioned and it turns out that all of the people who mentioned it were speaking about k1/k3 visas.

Thank you, both. My worries have been put to rest.

Hey everyone,

I hope everyone is doing well. I had a quick question.

I received an email notifying me of the immigrant visa interview date for my husband at the Islamabad embassy. However, I never received packet 3.5. My husband just filled out DS-260 online and mailed the required documents.

Can anyone tell me, what is packet 3.5 and why is it important?

Thanks and I wish the best for everyone who is going through the immigration journey.

Zollo80, just tell them the truth about why you were unemployed and yes, you will need a joint sponsor.

I think if it doesn't give you the option to select for a case that is beyond normal processing times, they must think your case is within normal processing times.

Did you try finding out the normal processing times for your type of case? Try it here: https://egov.uscis.gov/cris/processTimesDisplayInit.do

Also, you could call them at 1-800-375-5283 and give them your case number. They might be able to tell you something.

Be patient and don't give up!

The RFE was to provide additional proof of self-employment status. I was just about to send it and then I found out our case was moved back to USCIS. :/

Hey everyone, I found out some troubling news today. My case was already approved by USCIS and sent to NVC. I had already paid the i-864 fee and visa application fee and sent in the i-864 package. And now I just found out that my case was sent back to USCIS for further review. I called USCIS and NVC and they both said that they didn't know why this has happened. USCIS told me to wait 120 days before checking in with them again.

I've seen some posts here on VJ from people that this has happened to before but I haven't seen the results of what happened after USCIS took the case back for review. Is there anything I can do? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for the feedback, aplicantctg!

Thank you for your reply!

More about me: I am self-employed and have only had a couple of clients. I do not have any pay stubs or an employer. When I filled out the i-864, the only documents I included with it were a copy of my last year's taxes. For my joint sponsor, I included an i-864, a copy of their passport, and a copy of their last 3 years' taxes.

Does anyone have any ideas of what else I can send to prove self-employment status?

Thanks again. I appreciate it.

I have a couple of questions:

1. I submitted an I-864 with my information and I also submitted one for a joint sponsor. So, for whom does NVC need the additional documents for (me or the joint sponsor)?

If they are asking for more information from me (and not my joint sponsor), then:

2. In the missing items list, it says "a recently dated letter on business letterhead." How recent are they looking for? Is it ok if I have a letter from a couple of months ago?

3. Besides the items mentioned as examples, (a recently dated letter on business letterhead or a business license), is there anything else I can submit to prove self-employment status?

Thanks in advance. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you for your comments, pakigrl1, speedwell, and SVH.

I think 'married filing separately' is the best option if you are in a hurry.

Thank you for your replies, Panda Sky and Brother Hesekiel.

I am disappointed with my accountant. This is my first time filing taxes and she told me that for "tax purposes", I could file as 'single' and that it would not be a problem.

I will file an amended tax return now with my correct status: 'married filing separately.'

Also, in the future, I will be doing my own extensive research before going to anyone else. *sigh*

Thanks again.