TheirLax

Hi Georgia16,

11 minutes ago, Georgia16 said:

I entered June 2016 and we are filing jointly no problems at all.

My entry date isn't the issue - I will be filing taxes for calendar year 2016. My spouse already filed a return that included part of 2016 earlier last year, so he can't file a return for calendar year 2016, so we can't file jointly for 2016.

Hi adil-rafa,

 I don't think my spouse and I can file jointly for 2016 (we have different accounting periods), so we're filing separately.

Hi,

I entered the US in June 2016 on a K-1 visa, so I passed the substantial presence test in December 2016. It's most financially advantageous for me to file a dual-status return for 2016. According to the IRS website:

Quote

You must file Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, if you are a dual-status taxpayer who becomes a resident during the year and who is a U.S. resident on the last day of the tax year. Write "Dual-Status Return" across the top of the return. Attach a statement to your return to show the income for the part of the year you are a nonresident. You can use Form 1040NR, U.S. Nonresident Alien Income Tax Return or Form 1040NR-EZ, U.S. Income Tax Return for Certain Nonresident Aliens With No Dependents as the statement, but be sure to mark "Dual-Status Statement" across the top.

I plan to use 1040NR-EZ as the statement because it's the shortest of the two, but I have a few questions about it that someone on VJ might know the answers to (I figure VJers probably have more experience with dual-status returns than a typical accountant does!) I tried calling the IRS and the automated system told me that they don't answer these sorts of queries on the phone(!).

• It looks like I don't need to enter any of my foreign income from the period I was a nonresident. (None of it was effectively connected income.) Is this correct?
• Do I need to file Schedule OI or can I just file the first page?
  • If yes, I want to make sure I understand items D2 and F correctly. Do items D2 "Were you ever: A green card holder (lawful permanent resident) of the United States?" and F "Have you ever changed your visa type (nonimmigrant status) or U.S. immigration status?" refer to the time period up to and including the last day of 2016 (but not any part of 2017), or all time up to the time I fill out the form? I became a permanent resident in February 2017. My instinct is that the first is what they mean, otherwise the answers are different now to if I filed in January which feels weird, but I'd prefer not to have to guess.
• Could I use something simpler for the statement instead of a tax form, e.g. a letter stating that I had no effectively connected income/income from US sources during the part of the year I was a nonresident alien?

If anyone knows the answers to these, I'd greatly appreciate your help!

Thanks,

unboxed

You probably received this rfe because they want you not to have an interview.

So send in a copy of your marriage certificate again, and every piece of paper that has both of your names or shows that you share finances and an address

Hi p-ana,

Not having an interview would be very convenient! Fortunately the RFE deadline isn't until February so we have some time to gather evidence.

I would probably send an actual certified copy - the original certified copy and not a copy of it. You can always get more and it looks more official.

Hi MariaR323,

I'm a little confused - I thought what I sent was an actual certified copy, it was the physical document we got from the county vital statistics office. (The photocopy I mentioned was only hypothetical. Sorry if I was unclear about that!)

Don't send a photocopy of the certified copy. When we went to the clerk, we got several copies (one for us to keep, one for AOS, and extras). The actual copy delivered from the clerk's hands to yours is what they want. Barring that, if you did send them the actual copy, then it's most likely they've lost it. Do you have your name on any shared bills currently? How about health insurance or a simple will? If you have your name on the joint bank account now, there should be something you can print out. Any trips or receipts? Any honeymoon stuff with your names on it? If you lack photos, spend some time together and get snapping.

This sounds like it's a blanket RFE because they need actual proof of the marriage in the form of the certificate. Of course sending the additional evidence will help too.

Hi yuna628,

That's what I sent them - the photocopy was only hypothetical. I suppose at least another certified copy of our marriage certificate won't be difficult to obtain if they've lost the one we sent them. I was just surprised at how almost-invisible the seal is on them and wondered if that was why they asked for it again.

We're both on the electricity bill, we should both be on the rental agreement, and we have a few months of statements for the joint bank account (although we've only just started making transactions on it regularly). Health insurance maybe, I need to pry the details out of my employer.

With regards to photos, it sounds like we will have to go somewhere and do something fun together, what a pity!

Hi,

I've received an RFE for my I-485 application asking for evidence that my husband and I have a valid marriage and a shared life together. It suggests things like joint leases, bank account statements, utility bills, photos, and affidavits from people who know us.

It also says to submit our marriage certificate. Well, we already sent them a certified copy of it with the original application. I'm not sure why that wasn't good enough.

One thing I'm concerned about is that the raised seals on the certified copies we have are colorless imprints, i.e. on a photocopy they wouldn't show up at all - is that normal?

We don't have a lot of photos together (not really our thing), and we only recently started really using our joint bank account and adding me to the utility bills. Would older bills and statements that don't have both our names on them, but show us living at the same address, help?

We also didn't do a traditional wedding in terms of the outfits we wore, and the photos didn't come out great, and I'm worried that will count against us because we won't be able to give them any of the usual wedding pics.

Thanks p-ana!

He's ordered a transcript but it looks like it will take a while to arrive, sadly.

I know the I-864 instructions say we can use a tax return instead of a transcript - do you know if just the 1040 would be accepted? From my very limited googling it sounds like he shouldn't have any W-2s or 1099 given his current work situation, and that the 1040 and schedule C might be his entire tax return.

Hi,

My husband and I have been filling out the adjustment of status paperwork, and we're not sure whether the tax documents we have are what is needed for the I-864.

He runs his own business. There's no employees or other owners, just him. He has a Form 1040, including schedule C, showing his income and business details for 2015. No W-2 or 1099. Is this a tax transcript? Will it be enough for the I-864?

Thanks in advance!

I've made and attached a more legible reproduction of the DS-3025. Thanks Penguin_ie for removing the original for me.

There are various versions of the shots. In the US it's the tri-valent Tetanus (T), Diphtheria (d), Pertussis (ap)*. Brand names for adult versions are Adacel or Boostrix. The UK often has a quad-valent shot which has Diptheria, Tetanus, Pertussis, Polio. You don't need a polio shot, but it was part of the package deal so neither here nor there as long as you got immunized for the three required.

*ap or aP- acellular pertussis

Good luck on getting an adjudicator who knows their own rules. They are kind of all over the place on it. That's why I said just go to the interview and mess with a civil surgeon only if they insist. Meanwhile you know what shots are needed and that it clearly shows you had them. Maybe you can point that out in a nice way.

I'm afraid you've confused me again, assuming by "the three required" you mean diptheria, tetanus, and pertussis!

My DS-3025 has no entries for pertussis. There's just a single recorded Td shot, so there's nothing on there to say I've ever been immunized against pertussis. I've attached a photo of the vaccinations table. Do you still think it will be good enough?

My confusion stems from the following seemingly inconsistent statements:

• Pertussis is required
• Td will be accepted (instead of Tdap)

I've seen this in the USCIS policy manual, and on the VJ forums. Is this just one of those things that tends to get smoothed over by the adjudicators?

Thanks Nich-Nick. Going by your post that KayDeeCee linked to, it looks like my DS-3025 should be accepted.

I figured out the reason for the polio date on it too, it was from the tetanus shot I got at the K-1 medical (which contained polio too, as I stated in the OP and then promptly forgot).

Thanks KayDeeCee, that answers the Td/Tdap question.

I've also just noticed that the DS-3025 sort of says I received a polio vaccine at the K-1 medical, but I didn't: a date has been written, but the box isn't ticked. Wat. That won't matter because I get an age-based waiver for that one, right?

Edit: I forgot to mention that the waiver reason code A has also been entered for it.

Hi tolitzpogi,

On the the last page of the i-693 which contains a snapshot of what one would see on a DS-3025, is the box checked for "Vaccine history complete for each vaccine, all requirements met."?

I think they go with what is written on the i-693. If the civil surgeon states that all vaccine requirements are met, they will go with that.

The only box in the results section that is ticked is Applicant may be eligible for blanket waivers as indicated above.

It turns out it's a moot point anyway because I've just noticed that they misspelled my name on the I-693. Oops.

So I guess my question becomes: is Td accepted for AOS, or do I need to get Tdap done somewhere?

Hi,

I entered the US on a K-1 visa and will soon file for AOS. I was unable to obtain my vaccination records for my K-1 medical in January, so I got as many shots as I could done at the medicaI, and I was told that I would need to get additional shots done later. My copy of the DS-3025 has code B (Insufficient time interval to complete series) for both Td and MMR. (Don't I need the full Tdap, not just Td?)

I saw a civil surgeon today to get the remaining shots done, but he would only give me the MMR shot, saying that I don't need another tetanus shot because less than 10 years has passed since the last one. The row for Td/Tdap in the copy of the completed I-693 I got looks like this:

Specify Vaccine: Td [ ] Tdap [x]

Date Received (mm/dd/yyyy): 01/18/2016

(all other Date Received columns are blank)

Date Given by Civil Surgeon (mm/dd/yyyy): 07/22/2016

Mark an X if complete (...): x

(all the waiver columns are blank)

All the other rows look fine and I'm not concerned about them.

To me, it looks like the civil surgeon misinterpreted the shot I got in January (which according to the vaccination certificate I received was for diptheria, tetanus, and polio - not pertussis) as a full Tdap shot. I'm concerned that submitting this I-693 will cause problems because it contradicts the DS-3025, which says I only received a Td shot.

I'm also concerned because my understanding is that the shot I got in January was the first documented shot I have, and that I'm expected to get another one if I go to get an I-693, and I haven't done that. The date for the Td/Tdap shot is more than a month prior to the date I got the I-693, so sufficient time had passed for me to get the second shot in the series.

What should I do? I'm not sure if I can use the DS-3025 as-is, or if this I-693 will be accepted, or if I need to go get another I-693 (and possibly another shot).

My fiancé's dad sent the I-134 to the address Nich-Nick gave above. I emailed them a couple of weeks later using the contact form on the embassy website to ask them if they got it, but didn't get a response. It turned out they did have it, though - when I was submitting my documents, the guy told me that it had turned up, so I didn't need to provide anything further for the financial support requirement. Phew!

(I spent Saturday preparing a cover letter and bank statements to use to self-sponsor, fearing that the I-134 had gotten lost somewhere. Just in case anyone else is in a similar situation in the future: the Halifax branch in Mayfair were happy to give me a stamped 12 month statement.)

Thanks! I'm prepared to move the money to a US account, I'm just concerned about problems arising from not being able to show 12 months of bank statements for the US account.

Thanks Anh map. I agree it would be better if we can avoid using my fiancé's father as a joint sponsor.

If I use my UK account for AOS, would it matter that the money would not be in the US? Would my monthly bank statements be enough proof of the amount of money and that I own it?

Hi,

This is jumping the gun a bit (my K-1 interview isn't until next month), but I'd like to have a plan for the financial requirement part of adjustment of status in place before I travel.

My fiancé's income is less than $20,025 (125% of the 2016 poverty guidelines for what our household size will be). It's not even close. His father is willing to co-sponsor me for the K-1 visa, but he was unwilling to send me the I-134 because it contains his private financial info, and has instead sent it to the embassy directly. I don't think we'll be able to use him as a joint sponsor for adjustment of status because a) it's a much more serious commitment, and b) my understanding is that we'd have to file the I-864 from him in the same package as the rest of the forms, and so he would have to let us see it (and so his financial info).

I have approximately £100k (~$140k) in a UK current account that I'd like to use to make up the difference between my fiancé's income and the threshold. I'm aware that the rules allow for this, if we can prove ownership of the money and provide 12 months of bank statements. I'm not sure what the best approach would be, though. I think we have three options:

Transfer the money to my fiancé before I leave the UK

Advantages:

• I can deal my bank getting spooked by such a large transfer in person, while I'm still in the UK
• The assets would be in the US, in USD

Disadvantages:

• Could be viewed as me 'paying' my fiancé for a green card
• The money would no longer be mine
• The money would have suddenly appeared in the account, so it could just be a temporary loan for us to get through AOS

Open a joint account in the US with my then-husband after entering the US and getting married, but before adjusting status

Advantages:

• Strong evidence of commingling finances!
• The money would be in the US, in USD

Disadvantages:

• Possible problems with my bank getting spooked by such a large transfer from my account being requested from outside the UK
• We would not have 12 months of bank statements for the account
• The money would have suddenly appeared in the account, so it could just be a temporary loan for us to get through AOS

Keep the money in my UK account

Advantages:

• No large transfers from my account that could spook my bank
• I have paper statements going back to the start of 2015 showing the money building up in the account

Disadvantages:

• The money would not be in the US and would not be in USD
• I don't know whether my bank (Halifax) would allow me to have a non-UK address on my account, so the most recent statements I'd be submitting might have my parents' address
• Foreign assets might not be accepted for AOS
• Might need to have 5x instead of 3x the difference between my fiancé's income and the threshold (is this correct?), so the amount might be less convincing for AOS

I'd prefer to do the middle option (joint account in the US), if possible. Is this sensible? Would another approach work better?

1) Can we use the statements from my UK account to show that the money that would be in the US account would be from my UK account and fully available for supporting me? They would show a large transfer out, but I don't think there would be anything concretely linking it to the corresponding deposit in the US account. I'd be using Transferwise for the transfer, and it looks like they don't include the reference number from the sender in the deposit to the recipient's account.

2) How can we prove ownership of the money? The statements for my UK account show my name with initials and my address (e.g. Miss I M Bewildered, Flat 7, 8 Thames St, London (not my actual address)), but no birth of date or phone number.

3) Am I correct in thinking we should put any money in a joint account in part 7.1 of the I-864, i.e. the sponsor's assets, even though the money would have come from me?

Thanks for reading! Hopefully there's an easy answer to this.

Apologies for bumping the thread, I don't seem to be able to edit my original post.

Here's a screenshot of the form:

The field I'm unsure about is the first one i.e. Given Name. My passport just has a Given Names section that lists both my first name and middle name.

Hi,

I'm registering with the UK courier service website to pay for the visa, and am currently adding myself as an applicant. The form says Given Name, and says "Enter the name as it appears in the passport", but then lists two names as an example. Should I include my middle name in this field in addition to my first name?

I registered the account without my middle name - is this a problem?

Thanks all. I imagine he'll go for sending it directly to the embassy now we know that will work.

We're planning to do adjustment of status with my savings and my fiancé's income for this tax year, so we shouldn't need his father to help us with that.

he can redact whatever he wants -

however - I am not aware of any doc intake process at London IV for the I-134 except from your hand to the doc screener's hand.

Live and in person.

Thanks Darnell. Do you know if it's written in any official instructions anywhere that he can redact information from the form?

Hi,

My fiancé's father is willing to cosponsor me for a K1 visa, but he doesn't want to send me a completed I-134 and evidence - he'd prefer to send it directly to the embassy because it contains private information (income, life insurance policy value, etc.) that he doesn't really want me or my fiancé to see.

Does anyone know if this is allowed for London, and if so, what other information he would have to send with it? Presumably the case number - is there anything else?

Alternatively, can he leave some of the fields empty? He might be more amenable to sending it to me if he can get away with entering just his income and no other financial information.

There were no problems with the I-129F that related to me being transgender. (The RFE in my timeline was for a separate issue.)

At the medical, they were satisfied with a copy of the most recent letter from my specialist to my GP and a short letter from my surgeon. They weren't interested in my new birth certificate.

Fingers crossed for the interview...

Thanks! I take it I should take a copy of my birth certificate to the medical exam in addition to the embassy interview, then? Can I stick to the London K1 guide for everything else?

Hi,

My fiancé and I plan to file an I-129F next week. I'm transgender (male-to-female), have had surgery, and have legally changed my gender and obtained an updated passport and birth certificate.

I'm including my former name in the 'previous names' box in the G-325A form, and will do so on any later forms that ask for previous names, and mention it at the medical exam. Should I explicitly mention that I'm trans in the I-129f package (e.g. including a separate letter mentioning it)? I'd prefer to just leave it as an ordinary petition if that won't mess things up later.

We intend to marry in NJ. We can easily get married in PA instead if necessary, though.

Thanks for reading.