Mile2509

Hi Everyone,

My file for Alien Relative has been approved and I received a confirmation letter and a link to the embassy website to check all the supporting documents I need to have at the interview.

My questions are:

- I am an Italian filing from London UK. All the supporting documents needs to be translated including vaccines certificates or birth certificate, Italian police certificates? (considering translations are ££/word, I am facing bankruptcy here )

- Military records: In my case I was enlisted in the Italian Army but never did the boot camping training because I requested to do the Civil Service (Servizio Civile) in Italy very long time ago, I don't have any paper after moving out from my hometown. Anyone who shared the same experience knows anything about this and what can I do?

Thanks everyone, appreciate any help.

5 minutes ago, Jorge V said:

but note that the FEIE only covers federal income taxes, it doesn't cover FICA taxes. I still imagine she wouldn't owe anything, but FICA trips a lot of expats up when using the FEIE, including me at first.

Aren't the FICA taxes covered by the Totalization agreement between USA and UK? That's to avoid paying double taxation in the same country.

For what I understand, federal taxes play the big game in terms of the ability for us to get to US, that's why we should look into her returns asap.

25 minutes ago, Kph100 said:

I think its pretty certain she was earning more then £3,000 so she should of been filing USA tax returns, even thou she wouldnt owe any USA tax.

 

Research Streamline Disclosure where she can file last 3 years returns to get upto date on the returns and she signs to say she didnt mis the returns wilfully.

 

I found website expatforum and its section on tax very helpful on this

 

She will definitely look into that and be ready to file her tax returns.

In any case, informations online are quite tricky to understand in this matter, as we also know she could exercise the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE) where American expats can avoid paying taxes on their first 101.300$.

Still, that doesn't mean she shouldn't have file her returns.

Thanks for your time, appreciate the help.

And good luck to you!

If you don't mind me asking: is your petitioner inside the UK with you or already in the US?

My wife (us citizen) is living with me in the UK since years and we aren't sure if that could be a problem in case they ask for US taxes and income/financial support. It's quite tricky.

1 minute ago, Kph100 said:

Just used my british credit card, the payer doesnt have to be the petitioner

Great. Did you just file everything? How long is it taken for you?

Thanks for the info.

I'll be sure to let her check this but I'm also pretty sure she didn't pay any US taxes because her income was below the threshold as she always been a waitress in UK and didn't earn enough for the double taxation.

Anyway, will definitely look into that.

4 minutes ago, geowrian said:

If she had income above the minimum thresholds to file, then yes it will be an issue until she files her backed taxes for at least the past 3 years.

Considering I'm not sure how much is the minimum threshold, we'll have to read about this if I could find anything that talks about the financial side of the story.

Any links to read more about it?

On 9/12/2018 at 1:24 PM, geowrian said:

Hopefully she's current on on her US federal taxes, since those are required either way.

She isn't. She moved to EU 10 years ago so she is not paying US taxes in years (apart from student loans which she is repaying yearly).

Would this disqualified her?

Hi there,

we're filing the I-130 and was wondering if anyone filed with the London Field Office. My question is: which forms of payments did you use?

I can see they states: 

The ONLY acceptable forms of payment:

• Credit card via USCIS Form G-1450 (Authorization for Credit Card Transactions), above;
• U.S. Bank Cashier’s checks;
• U.S. Bank or U.S. Postal money order;
• International bank draft in United States dollars
  • All checks must be made out to: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

But which one is the safest to do in terms of transaction from the UK? I read that if the credit card refuses the payment once they refuse all the application.

Should we ask a US parent to pay with their card could be easier?

Thanks

Hi thanks everyone for the support.

I have a question as we are now filing the I-130. In form G-1450 it says to place the form on top of our application, but a couple of sentences after it states, "do not submit this form to a USCIS Field Office,"  but the London Field Office is where we need to send the application.

This is confusing. - Any help?

Thanks

11 minutes ago, geowrian said:

It is fraud to enter on an ESTA or tourist visa with intent to adjust status. This plan would not be legal.

She can file in the US and use that time to find a US job, return and work there, and use that to qualify. You can also hold off pursuing the visa after filing the I-130 via DCF...usually up to a year without any updates, but stay in contact with the embassy anyway. That gives time to return to the US for a job as well.

Thanks, that clarifies all. I will definitely contact the embassy in London and have more info about the DCF from here.

Thanks everyone for your time.

2 minutes ago, pushbrk said:

Her parents can act as joint sponsors.  Filing for an immigrant visa for a spouse of a US Citizen would be not only the fastest but the cleanest, simplest and least expensive way to accomplish what you want.  Start by going to the US Embassy website and read about how to file directly with the USCIS field office there.  Study the guides here and the I-130 instructions.

That's exactly what we would love to do: cleanest and honest way to make it there. We're reading lots about the visa application but we got stuck when reading about the income requirements and timeline.

It gets confusing because of course we want to get there and start working, get a house etc...but we're living in the UK right now so obviously we won't have a US income any soon and we won't risk a refused application so I couldn't visit my family in-law in the US for years.

Thanks for replying Geowrian.

As for joint sponsors, would it be possible for my parents in-law to help?

As the difference is substantial in amount of time they take to process the visa, would you think it's best to adjust my status once in the States, so while 12-14 months have passed, she could have an entire tax year on her shoulder? And possibly me too with a work permit...?!?

Hi everyone,

I'm an Italian man married to US citizen since Oct 2015. We both currently live in the UK where she posses a UK residency card. We now want to move to the States.

Is it best to start petitioning from the UK via US consulate or get into the States and start filing from there? Which one is the best path to follow, considering we won't have any income once in the States as we'll have to find jobs etc..

Any help is much appreciated.