minahhhh

I just read the original post again and realized the nonresident filing options don't apply in this case. My apologies.

If you qualified to file married-joint in previous years, unless you separated for 6 months in 2012, your wife is not eligible for HOA in 2012. Was she advised to file HOA?

Why would one file HOA instead of Married filing joint? The standard deduction is higher

Standard Deduction Amounts for 2013

• Single: $6,100
• Head of Household: $8,950
• Married Filing Joint: $12,200
• Married Filing Separately: $6,100
• Qualifying Widow/Widower: $12,200
• Dependent: $1,000-$6,100

From what I've learned, it's not black and white. Everyone has different situations/factors that dont always situate them into the norm, so I'm not able to say why one would choose this way or that.

I encourage anyone to not only file their taxes with firms they trust and have good records (or to be well-informed if they are filing themselves), but also be in contact with IRS directly with any concerns or questions. This way there's no guesswork.

You might be able to file as head of household, if you are married to non-resident alien. See here:

http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/U.S.-Citizens-and-Resident-Aliens-Abroad---Head-of-Household

(I do not remember whether it applies in any case, or only if you lived abroad - I guess should be in any case)

However, if your spouse did not have any income to report during the year, then filing married filing jointly is usually better for you then filing as head of household

As for the main topic of the tread - honestly, a laymen person, without too much tax and general law experience, with probably not perfect English, in a stressful situation of the interview, is offered to make a complicated yes/no decision on the spot in 1 minute about whether to withdraw the application.. Based on the suspicion(!) of the immigration officer that he either probably did tax fraud or probably was in fact separating from his wife. I find the whole story unsettling. To me it sounds as if he was simply intimidated into withdrawing.

Now, it might be that his situation is clean, or it might be that suspicions of the immigration officer are correct, but that is a different story.

Oops, just saw that you had posted it already! I am currently a nonresident alien, living in the US with my USC husband, not employed (obviously), with a qualifying dependent. If the op's case is similar to ours they should not have had any problem.

Unfortunately, this rule isn't widely known. Until we were informed of this, we had no idea we qualified for the benefit. Maybe the IO wasn't aware of this either.

"If you are a U.S. citizen married to a nonresident alien you may qualify to use the head of household tax rates. You are considered unmarried for head of household purposes if your spouse was a nonresident alien at any time during the year and you do not choose to treat your nonresident spouse as a resident alien. However, your spouse is not a qualifying person for head of household purposes. You must have another qualifying person and meet the other tests to be eligible to file as a head of household."

http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/U.S.-Citizens-and-Resident-Aliens-Abroad---Head-of-Household

I have confirmed this with several tax filing agencies as well as IRS directly - it is not widley known, unfortunately (probably due to the amount of abuse it would get?). The link above is direct from IRS website. There are instances where a USC married to a nonresident alien can file head of house. If you fit the criteria, maybe print out the page, contact IRS to get verification on your tax situation specifically, and see if you can get anything directly from them printed out to provide as evidence towards your immigration case.

So, after a little bit of a delay (due to my own fault), I have finally received the first set of text and email NoA's! Sooooo relieved!

Are you all ready for the biggest laugh of your lives?

I have got to be the biggest idiot on the planet right now. I've been going crazy about my file. It was received on Feb 5 and until today, I hadn't heard anything. I called uscis this morning and had them file an inquiry about my application bc even they agreed it's a bit unusual to go 2 weeks without an email response.

Well, the mail came. Rejected application. Why? I'm apparently still living in 2013. My cheques were dated 2013.

I took this opportunity to re-check everything and will be sending it out again, via 1-day express, tomorrow morning.

I totally agree with you TALA. I've sent our application on Wednesday, and it was supposed to be in USCIS by Friday. Turns out they didn't bring the package to USCIS until 8 pm!!! I tried to schedule a redelivery but can't get ahold of a customer service representative I hope they don't send back our package

Any update on your application?

That's so frustrating! Ours is still stuck in the "Available for pickup" stage until someone grabs it out of the PO box, I guess.

Did you also send it with USPS to the PO box? Do you have tracking??

Any word on your application?

ahhhhhh the chicago lockbox has has my application since feb 11th and i still haven´t gotten the email for the NOA 1....i am starting to go crazy!!!!! when should i be worried?

If you should be worried, then I definitely should be worried! They've had my application since Feb 5, and still no word, nor have cheques been cashed! ? From what I've heard it could take up to 30-45 days, but average is two business weeks. I've also heard that even though the g1145 is filed, some don't get the email/text and only paper.

Just keep a watch on your bank account. It's what I've been doing... 20 times a day! Hahaha Goodluck! I'm sure it's on it's way!

We sent it to Chicago

Thank you! And congrats on the first step being done!

Hi, we sent our AoS package on Feb 5 and we also got the E-Notifications today at 1am

Where did you send your application to? Mine was delivered and signed for on the 5th but still no word for me yet ?

E-notifications came last night and the payment has been processed - closer....

Congratulations! First step done and done! My packet arrived the same day as yours, hopefully it won't be much longer to get my NOA1! Eeeek!

@shikiyaya Have you received word from anyone yet?

@kenj I mailed my application via usps priority express on Feb 4, and it was delivered/signed for the next day. So as far as I can tell there aren't any closures. You may want to contact usps to see what's going on first, and then try contacting uscis.

Hi All,

I couldn't find a topic for Feb AOS filers. We sent the AOS package today.

How's everyone doing so far?

Best of luck to all!

Where did you send your application to? Did you file the e-notification form along with it?

@shikiyaya Hello! We sent our forms on February 4, it was signed for on the 5th, and now we are waiting for acknowledgement! ?

We sent out our I-130 w/ I-485 on Feb 4 and it arrived Feb 5, signed by a JC. No word yet, but I know it's still early! Good luck, everyone!