Lee & Madel

My thoughts also on the above response??!!

Does anybody have any knowledge of this matter? Thanks!

It took about 7-10 business days for the NVC to acknowledge and get our agent of choice in the system so no worries, I believe you are still in the normal processing times.

As for the rest, I am unsure as we did not deal with children so I leave that to the others here

Thanks for your input... much appreciated!

* Been 5 business days

Hello all... I Hope your journeys are going smoothly...

My wife emailed The NVC on March 5 the " Agent of Choice " and we did receive this the next day ....

Dear Sir/Madam:

Thank you for your recent inquiry to the National Visa Center (NVC). This e-mail is an auto response. Please do not respond.

We review and reply to e-mails in the order they are received.

But we have not heard anything since. Does it generally take this long? It has been business days now...

Also I am petitioning for my wife and my step son. Does my wife need to fill out a DS 230 for her son who is 6 years old?And if she does need to fill it out whos name does she sign for him on the form

And Do I need to fill out a I 864 form for him also even though I am filling out one for my wife?

Basically do I need two of everything??? Thanks in advance!

I paid the 88$ fee for both my wife and stepson. What should I be ready for next? Any info will be helpful. I will thank you in advance!

My tax guy made a mistake and filed me " single " he was confused on filing for my spouse overseas. Do you think this will be a problem or red flags as far as our marriage? Should I apply for an ITIN # and amend my taxes before I send them to the NVC? Thanks!

Or do you think it is safe to send because they will be looking at my pay and see if I can support. I can have my tax guy write a notarized letter and attach to my 2012 taxes? Also a copy of our marriage certificate form the NSO in philippines?

file as separate and ammend or apply for extension

at the time, i filed single and then amended.

i also filed like two mos late trying to wait for it but it was denied so i just went single.

ps sorry i initially missed the word state

you can do that.

its your choice.

My tax guy made a mistake and filed me " single " he was confused on filing for my spouse overseas. Do you think this will be a problem or red flags as far as our marriage? Should I apply for an ITIN # and amend my taxes before I send them to the NVC? Thanks!

Also how about if I have my tax man write a notarized letter and he can explain his mistake?? And I can attach it to my 2012 taxes? He will explain we will amend it here in the US when she arrives after we get her SS#. I really appreciate everyone's help here...

Head of Household

Filing as head of household usually results in a lower tax

than filing singly or married filing separately. You can file

as head of household if you are single or unmarried, paid

more than half the cost of keeping up a home, and had a

qualifying child or qualifying relative that lived with you in

the home for more than half the year. But if the qualifying

relative is your parent, he or she does not have to live

with you. You must be able to claim an exemption for the

parent, and you must pay more than half of the cost of

the parent's household expenses.

If you are married you can file as head of household if

you can be considered unmarried. All of the following

must be true:

You and your spouse file separately.

You pay more than 50% of the expenses of maintaining

the household.

Your spouse did not live in the home for the last 6 months

of the year.

The household is the principal home of a qualifying

person or child.

You can claim an exemption for a qualifying person or

child.

You can also file as head of household if your spouse

was a nonresident alien at any time during the year.

However, your spouse does not count as a qualifying

person. You must have another person and meet all the

other tests to qualify for head of household.

Thank You! I may just send them out hoping it will not be a problem... We have wedding albums and marriage certificate from NSO... I am hoping they just care about what I make per year!

@Lee, I wouldn't worry about it. They don't look at taxes as concrete evidence of your marriage. If you've sent other evidence and it's solid then you don't have to worry. I'd leave it as is until you have your wife in the states and she has her SSN. Then amend your return. I'm sure you're not the first case they've processed who filed single when they should have filed married!

For reference here are the filing statuses and how they apply to our situation:

Single: No, you're married and you shouldn't choose this option. However, this status offers the least tax breaks so no one is going to come knocking on your door or take you off to jail for it.

Married/Jointly: You have to get a ITIN for your alien spouse, and the requirements include copies of passport that are certified from issuing agency. The requirements can be a lot of trouble for people in certain countries.

Married/Separately: Easiest choice, just put "NRA" (stands for non-resident alien) in the box where it asks for your spouse's SSN and you're good to go.

Head of Household: You can also use this status but you have to be careful b/c there are a lot of requirements, one being tha "You pay more than 50% of the expenses of maintaining the household." and that you have another dependent that is not your spouse (a child or infirm parent or something).

HTH and Good Luck!

So you believe I will be ok? Have you heard of anyone else that may have done the same as me? But thank you for all your thought and time... I really appreciate it!

Besides wrong info, you might want to check your past years tax return and have them amended. If not for the purpose of correcting them, then atleast for the purpose of immigration as part of your evidence as a married couple, especially if the embassy makes it their destiny to find red flags. If you got married in 2011, the last year you possibly could've filed as single was on your 2010 tax return.

I got married sept 2012 .. so I think I am good there. So I will be sending my 2012/11/10 taxes.. thanks for the info! I may just send them all and have it amended when she gets here to the US. Hopefully it will not be a problem!

If anybody has advice if I should send the paperwork out as single and I can fix it later... Anybody ever have this problem? Thanks

@ Lee & Madel, Correction to Post #9:

According to the W-7 instructions (http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/iw7.pdf), form W-7 (ITIN application) should have been filed with your 2012 Tax Return.

"2. Your original, valid tax return(s) for which the ITIN is

needed. Attach Form W-7 to the front of your tax return. If you

are applying for more than one ITIN for the same tax return (such

as for a spouse or dependent(s)), attach all Forms W-7 to the

same tax return. After your Form W-7 has been processed, the

IRS will assign an ITIN to the return and process the return."

And, according to this

http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Individual-Taxpayer-Identification-Number-(ITIN)-Reminders-for-Tax-Professionals:

"In cases where a current year tax return has already been filed that excluded a spouse or dependent who needs an ITIN, the taxpayer should complete Form 1040X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, showing the ITIN applicant's information, and attach it to Form W-7."

So, file W-7 and the amended return together.

Wow thank you for all this helpful information Armenia... I am not so concerned about the money right now but I am concerned about My filing status when I send my tax returns with the I-864. I read on internet it may take 3-5 months to amend my taxes. I really made a poor mistake by filing single. Do you think I should still send my taxes through the rest of the process as filing single? How about if I get a letter from my tax agent and attach it to my tax returns along with my marriage certificate from the NSO in philippines? I just want to continue with my process and fix that problem later... Do you or anybody on here feel that is a bad move on my part to send my tax returns out the way it is now?

Yes they told me to file single for now... and then when she got a SS# then they will amend it. So have you heard this before? Do you think it will be a big problem? I sure hope not. Maybe I can send a letter from my tax agent with my 2012 taxes? Or maybe I should just leave it alone? If you were in my shoes would you send it out to the NVC,,, Thanks Mina

Thanks moomin .... do you think its to late? I will not go to this tax guy again

I recently went to file my taxes for 2012. And I got married in september 2012 to my wife in the Philippines. Now when I went to do my taxes they told me I could not file married because my wife does not have a Tax ID# or a SS# yet. So the tax agent said to file single and when she gets here to the US they could amend my tax to" married filing jointly ". Because then she will have her SS# and tax #. So I went on and filed as single. Now just two days ago My I-130 petition was approved. So I wanted to advance to the next step. But I was thinking I may have made a mistake for filing " single " because when my last three year taxes are sent to the NVC they will see in 2012 I filed as single.And they may say " I thought he was married... why did he file single " My question is will this throw a big red flag to the NVC because I filed single even though I am married? Will they just look at my income or will they also look at my status? I am thinking I may have gotten bad advice from the tax agent and this will turn into a big mess. Any advice? Thank You in advance for your time!

On February 2, 2013, your I130, IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR RELATIVE, FIANCE(E), OR ORPHAN was approved. You will be notified of the decision by mail. Please check our website at www.uscis.gov for further updates on your case, including when the approval notice is mailed. If you do not receive the approval notice within 30 days, please call customer service at 1-800-375-5283 for further assistance.

During this step the formal decision (approved/denied) is written and the decision notice is mailed and/or emailed to the applicant/petitioner. You can use our current processing time to gauge when you can expect to receive a final decision.

Wow I can't believe this right now... I didn't think it would be this fast... I am hoping and praying everyone can get theres soon! I am so happy right now!!! Words can't describe...

He cant marry you untill he enter the us and get his green card,,then he can return and marry you and file as permanent resident filing for spouse,,that is taking 2.5 years to process now..but you can go ahead an apply for a tourist visa so you can visit him while you are waiting for your filing to come through,,, do it before you get marry,,you stand a better chance of getting it now

2.5 years to process now? Is that the truth? I couldn't help but notice this.... Thanks!

Then you might want to change the fact that you've listed your home office as Chicago in your profile...

I was a little confused about home office .... All set now! Thank You!

so you went to the lockbox then nbc then back to chicago?

That has always sounded so funny to me.

I wonder if that's happened to mine too.

No it went to Chi, then NBC , then my local office in my home state ( not Chicago )

Hello all! I am filling out the I-864 and line 21 ( D ) it asks " if I have any dependent children enter number here " I do have 1 daughter from my previous marriage. But she does not live with me. But she stays with me every other weekend. Should I include her on this form for " Household Size " even though she does not live with me full time? Thank You for your time and any info you may share!

Mine went to Chicago, then NBC, and now it was sent to my local office on Jan. 7. Don't know if that will speed things up. Not sure!

Ok Thank You! Will I get more info from them?

Can someone please tell me what an ISO is? I called today and asked for and ISO and they had no clue what I was talking about. Thanks!

PD Nov.23 .... Merry Christmas!