JennyR

This entire thread is very helpful! Thank you!

Not much optimism in this thread, try thinking positive and avoid raising your blood pressure and that of your beneficiary.... but the uncertainty is driving you crazy and you want peace of mind right? well you're not going to get it, at least not until the details of the EO come out, So again, think the best case scenario, not the worst, Relax, take a couple shots of Tequila and watch re-runs of Gilligan's Island, it works for me  
 

Not to ruin your mood. But the order is mainly aiming at migrant workers that are on workers visa. Yikes. 
Wish you the best!

Hold on Jenny. It might be on its way. Offices are still moving forward with ead approvals and such. Blessings!

Okay if it’s a similar timeline to mine you can expect end of May or beginning of June for you to get approvals. I hope it’s sooner for you!
Mike

Hey Mike sorry for the delay NOA on both was 21st Nov 2019 all cases are MSC so i think at the National Benefits centre as well

Our EAD and Travel authorization is still pending. The timeline date is by the end of this month but were suspecting delays due to all that is going on

Only in as much as it will give you both how much he earnt from April 2019 to whenever he left his job if aplicable. Otherwise go from bank account as Wuozopo said this will be the most accurate if no other info. Not sure why things are doubled though

Your tax return didn’t go to nothing. It’s still there.  Have you gone all the way to the end and let TurboTax check for errors or places you missed answering something?

I'm trying this on Turbo Tax but it will not allow me to report my husbands income he made in England because he was not a resident. 

IRS Publication 519 tells you on page 9 what should be included. It’s up to you to compose it.
How To Make the Choice
Attach a statement, signed by both spouses, to your joint return for the first tax year for which the choice applies. It should contain the following information.
• A declaration that one spouse was a non- resident alien and the other spouse a U.S. citizen or resident alien on the last day of your tax year, and that you choose to be treated as U.S. residents for the entire tax year.
• The name, address, and identification number of each spouse. (If one spouse died, include the name and address of the person making the choice for the deceased spouse.)
 
 
Ours was like this
———————

Statement: Nonresident Spouse Treated as a Resident

We declare that on the last day of tax year 2019:
• Mary A. Jones was a U.S. citizen
• John J. Jones was a nonresident alien
• Mary A. Jones and John J. Jones are married.

We choose to be treated as U.S. residents for the entire tax year.

__________________________________ 2/4/2020
Mary A. Jones  SSN 123-45-6789
123 Main St.
Smalltown, TX 77771

__________________________________ 2/4/2020
John J. Jones  SSN 987-65-4321
123 Main St.
Smalltown, TX 77771
 
——————

Wanted to chime in again since our taxes were accepted by the IRS and our state of residency yesterday. We used H&R Block Deluxe and I paid extra for a tax pro to review everything and help us e-file. It was $29.99 for deluxe federal return, $36.99 for deluxe state return, and $59.99 for the tax pro review. Total of $126.97 which was well worth it to be sure our hefty refund was accurate.
 
We were able to do MFJ and file as resident for tax purposes for her as she is technically non-resident (no green card, does not pass substantial presence test). This required us to complete form 2555 to report foreign income (available on the online H&R Block service) and then answer questions to exclude the income (no tax treaty with Panama, but her income was only $7440 so we were able to exclude all of it). Her tax home was considered Panama (she was born there).
 
I completed the special election statement (I can share mine if someone wants an example), both of us signed and dated it, and I sent a scanned copy to my tax pro. She said she would mail it in for us, but e-file the rest of the return. I wanted to share this part specifically because I was under the impression that I would have to mail the entire return, but no.
 
Good luck to everyone else!

I will explain this in the way that I understand it. Anyone feel free to correct me as I am not a tax expert.
 
We chose to claim her as a resident for all year in 2019 so I could do both standard deductions ($12,200 x 2) against my salary. Otherwise, we would not get that benefit. In order to claim her as a resident for the whole year, all worldwide income needs to be claimed. In my situation, Panama and the United States do not have a tax treaty meaning the IRS would try to tax her on the foreign income again regardless of how much Panama has already taxed her. However, there is an exemption for her because Panama is her "tax home" meaning she spent at least 330 days in Panama over any 12-month period (she was born there, so this is definitely a yes) which allows her foreign 2019 income to be excluded up to something like $105,000. Since she only made $7,440 last year, this was all excluded from being taxed by the IRS.
 
Basically we were just being honest. I could have said she made $0 last year and they wouldn't know and it would be the same outcome, but obviously it's important to be truthful in our immigration pursuits, even though this is IRS and not USCIS/DHS.

You should look at the thread in which I just made a reply about my tax situation which sounds similar to yours.
 
We were able to do everything online with H&R Block with tax pro review. Our tax pro understood our situation and knew how to elect to file as resident alien for my wife, complete form 2555 to exclude my wife's foreign income, and submit the special election statement. You can use my statement as a guide. The total cost was a little over $150 to have it done correctly.
 
Of course, I am not a tax professional in any way and am still learning about these special circumstances as I go. My taxes have been very simple in the past as a USC.
 
 

Coming back to this thread
 
All the income earned worldwide has to appear on Form 1040 Line 1.
That means the USCs income + the foreign earned income.
If it’s not there, then any potential refund you think you are getting is false hope. The entire return is not accurate until Line 1 is accurate.
 
How to get the tax program to put it there depends on how each brand wrote their software.

TurboTax has it at the end of asking about W2 income, and all the rest of income sources. They have a section called “Less Common Income” and that’s where they ask about any foreign income. You say yes and it pops it into Line 1.
 
If I remember H&R software, they want you to create a pseudo W2 for the foreign income. It’s nothing but a fake W2 for their programming to know to put it in Line 1. Anything on a W2 tells their software to add that amount to Line 1, even if it’s not a real W2. It gets the right number on Line 1. 
 
If you were doing it old school by hand with a blank form 1040, a pencil, and the instructions, you would just add his and hers together with a calculator and write it on Line 1. 
 
You have to report the foreign income first on Line 1 before you can subtract it on Line 7a. 

Liam this is so helpful, thank you! We just got NOA2 but it's looking like things might progress quickly so it's good to know about the experience! When you say South coast where are you? My fiance lives in Devon

Got my NOA2 in the mail today with an approval date of 05-02-19! Can someone post the link to the May NOA2 group because I guess we'll be there now So much research to do on the next steps. 
 
The notice came in the mail two hours before I drove my fiancé to the airport to return to England, so the timing was amazing

Got my NOA2 in the mail today with an approval date of 05-02-19! Can someone post the link to the May NOA2 group because I guess we'll be there now So much research to do on the next steps. 
 
The notice came in the mail two hours before I drove my fiancé to the airport to return to England, so the timing was amazing

Hey peeps! Just checking on you all.. we made it through January and about to make it through February! I just got back from visiting my fiance. Jetlagged and tired but glad I got to visit. How are you all doing?

I did too! We're on the exact same timeline so far

I did too! We're on the exact same timeline so far

Hi Everyone! They received my packet today with my I-129F! Now it all begins

Nice! Looks like we will both be hopefully hearing in early July too. ☺️

Yes. They got our package today. 

Got the text our NOA1 is on the way Friday, and they cashed my check the same day. I'm excited for some wedding planning during the long wait now at least.