Becker

14 hours ago, majm said:

It has to be paper filed if you do it with a tax return, unfortunately, which means it won't be processed for a while... nor will you receive any potential refund until it is done. There is also some work required on the foreign spouse's part to get their passport or other documentation certified at the embassy. That part is simple, but may add a week or more before you can respond to the RFE. However, considering it is one of the exact pieces of evidence they reference in the RFE, it's spot on. You can also apply for the ITIN in-person, but I know nothing about that:

 

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/how-do-i-apply-for-an-itin

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/acceptance-agents-united-kingdom

 

As noted before, depending on your finances, the US citizen may see a big difference in their tax bracket / liability when going MFJ vs MFS. I ran the numbers for my spouse and I, and had I filed MFS my refund would have been about $2000. MFJ it was about $8000 (I make about $130k and my wife's income is minimal abroad). I'd discuss with a CPA and/or an acceptance agent listed in the enclosed link - doing this was well worth the effort for us.

4 hours ago, Nitas_man said:

First of all, nobody has joint property leases or bank accounts when they marry overseas and are in the process of immigration.  Your RFE is for the time you got married to the point of the RFE so scrambling to “create” evidence after the fact, often advised here, is ill-advised.  You married Dec 2020?  What did you send?

 

My suggestion is load your reply like a K1 package.  Reservations, Plane tix, hotel receipts, all records of all visits and time spent together from the time you met until the time you returned to the US and filed.

 

It is rare that I advise photos but this is one instance that I would suggest a handful of them.  It doesnt sound like you filed much so knowing what you initially sent would be helpful in answering this RFE

 

 

Okay so we have a life insurance policy dated today. We are going to include minimal chat logs from dates years ago to show we sent each other messages/pictures we sent to each other after trips and some others. We will also submit a US tax return MFJ as the USC has not yet submitted the tax return and we will include the full tax return as proof.

Do you also think we will need affidavits or do you think this will be enough to get past the RFE? 

Previously submitted stuff which was, 13 photos with and without family, trips abroad to Greece/Mexico/Ireland etc. A couple of boarding passes, passport stamps, one hotel receipt with both names in London. 

12 hours ago, majm said:

If the US citizen spouse hasn't already filed their tax return, I'd say apply to get an ITIN - it's done at the same time when filing the tax return. Depending on your financial situation, MFJ can potentially benefit the US citizen's tax liability and any potential refund. When I did this last year, it required us to paper file (rather than electronic) which took MONTHS to process... but you could do this now and include a full copy of the MFJ return showing that you filed W-7 for the ITIN. By the time you get to NVC or the interview, the IRS may have already processed the return and the tax transcript will be additional help for you.

Do you know if we can file and attach the full return and W7 form as evidence to USCIS or do we need to wait for a receipt from the IRS to submit for our RFE? 

16 minutes ago, Nitas_man said:

Clear.  In my vast and convoluted experience zero is enough, to answer the question.

 

After you got married, when you returned - what did you do?  Does your employer offer health insurance?  Insurance you can add a spouse too (this is usually at “ruinous” expense but what to do?  I did that) Marriage is an automatic enrollment event.

 

 

What about setting up beneficiary on your retirement if possible?

Bank accounts/credit cards etc are not practical for reasons listed above.  No SS number BUT most health / retirement will let you add a beneficiary pending SS.

 

Something’s badly wrong.  This case should have been straightforward.

I’m not sure if we should be worried then. We included the evidence we had and we thought it would be accepted. We have included the majority of evidence over a a full two year span as that’s when we met and we thought maybe that was why we got an RFE. Of course, we never included an affidavit so they wouldn’t have any idea of the day we met until we include that in our file (which we are now going to add after the RFE) 

I mentioned in a post above that we are able to take out a life insurance policy with both our names but it will be dated at March 17 (today) will this be a cause for concern that it is not dated prior to the RFE? 

6 hours ago, Wcalmt1 said:

I had to do (d)    I wrote a 5 page letter, I had my cousin, and his Wife write an affidavit, he's the one person in my family that has met my wife and, his wife is the one who introduced us.

 

 

What did you include in the letter if it was 5 pages? 

1 hour ago, Nitas_man said:

First of all, nobody has joint property leases or bank accounts when they marry overseas and are in the process of immigration.  Your RFE is for the time you got married to the point of the RFE so scrambling to “create” evidence after the fact, often advised here, is ill-advised.  You married Dec 2020?  What did you send?

 

My suggestion is load your reply like a K1 package.  Reservations, Plane tix, hotel receipts, all records of all visits and time spent together from the time you met until the time you returned to the US and filed.

 

It is rare that I advise photos but this is one instance that I would suggest a handful of them.  It doesnt sound like you filed much so knowing what you initially sent would be helpful in answering this RFE

 

 

How many photos/tickets etc would you say is enough? We included 4 passport stamp pages, 13 photos with and without family, 2-3 boarding passes and hotel receipts 

Just now, pandakoo said:

Are there any red flags with your relationship? How long did you know each other and how many times did you visit each other before marrying? If it was done quickly it might be why they are asking for more evidence. 
 

Did you include photos with family and friends to show you’ve met the respective family and friends? 
Filing taxes jointly will help show financial commingling and also adding each other as an authorized user on your credit card/bank account is super easy. 

No red flasg that i know of. We met in 2017, have many boarding passes and pictures in various places, NYC, Ireland, UK, Florida, Mexico etc, We have pictures included with each others families too. Passport stamps and hotel receipts with both guest names shown on there.

We can happily apply for a credit card but we cannot find one that is willing to allow a non resident to be added or someone without an SSN. Currently looking at chase bank as one of the previous posts mentions it. We are.a young couple in early 20s too, not sure if that is a red flag

10 minutes ago, majm said:

It has to be paper filed if you do it with a tax return, unfortunately, which means it won't be processed for a while... nor will you receive any potential refund until it is done. There is also some work required on the foreign spouse's part to get their passport or other documentation certified at the embassy. That part is simple, but may add a week or more before you can respond to the RFE. However, considering it is one of the exact pieces of evidence they reference in the RFE, it's spot on. You can also apply for the ITIN in-person, but I know nothing about that:

 

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/how-do-i-apply-for-an-itin

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/acceptance-agents-united-kingdom

 

As noted before, depending on your finances, the US citizen may see a big difference in their tax bracket / liability when going MFJ vs MFS. I ran the numbers for my spouse and I, and had I filed MFS my refund would have been about $2000. MFJ it was about $8000 (I make about $130k and my wife's income is minimal abroad). I'd discuss with a CPA and/or an acceptance agent listed in the enclosed link - doing this was well worth the effort for us.

What are your thoughts on doing MFS and showing that in the RFE. Do you think it would help as it proves marriage or not?

4 minutes ago, majm said:

Include a full copy of the return with said W-7 and all paperwork. It's not as simple as a tax transcript which would show the return has been received and processed, but it shows that you filed MFJ and are waiting for the ITIN.

Okay well the more the better in this case i guess. Did you say we have to file by paper or can we file online also? 

Further to my post. We are able to take out a life insurance policy but the date will show as of tomorrow as that is the earliest policy start date. Will this be a red flag when the guy comes to look at the RFE when we submit? 

1 minute ago, majm said:

If the US citizen spouse hasn't already filed their tax return, I'd say apply to get an ITIN - it's done at the same time when filing the tax return. Depending on your financial situation, MFJ can potentially benefit the US citizen's tax liability and any potential refund. When I did this last year, it required us to paper file (rather than electronic) which took MONTHS to process... but you could do this now and include a full copy of the MFJ return showing that you filed W-7 for the ITIN. By the time you get to NVC or the interview, the IRS may have already processed the return and the tax transcript will be additional help for you.

How would this benefit us getting past the RFE? Is there any proof we can show for the RFE as we are submitting it online

9 minutes ago, mushroomspore said:

Are you the US citizen? Wells Fargo allowed me (Canadian) to open a bank account when I first came to the USA on a student visa. I had no SSN and this was long before I met my husband. We ended up adding him to my US bank account and that's become our joint account. Do you also have any evidence of travel together (pictures, boarding passes, passport stamps, flight/hotel itineraries, anything that proves you were together at the same place and same time)? And has the US citizen filed their most recent US tax returns as "Married"? You probably won't have the tax return in time before responding to the RFE but it is good evidence to present at the interview. Additionally, gathering as much evidence for the RFE would be best.

We presented a lot of evidence in our initial filing. Pictures, boarding passes, hotel receipts, certificates etc. The specific RFE is just asking for bona-fide evidence and the stuff listed in the post. I am the Uk citizen writing this now but I have had no luck in TN trying to get an account but i may look into wells fargo if possible. The US tax return my spouse was planning on doing Married Filing Separately as this is the first year of us being married

10 minutes ago, mushroomspore said:

Do you have a credit card or a bank account where you can add your spouse as an authorized user? What about health/dental insurance through your job (not just life insurance)? You can also try adding your spouse to your vehicle insurance.

Unfortunately i do not drive. I asked my bank and they require the uS spouse to be a UK resident at the very least. I am unsure of UK or US bank accounts which allow a foreign spouse to be added but i am looking for them at the moment. We just tried discover as that is the USC credit card and they require an SSN.

Do you think we can just apply for a joint life insurance right now or is that something not worth doing? 

Btw, do you think providing one of these would be enough or are we still being risky just providing one? 

Just now, igoyougoduke said:

 

irrespective of which country you live, if you are working for a organization, they should have insurance policies where you have both spouse names . do you or your spouse have any ?

 

US tax filer can file tax returns and send USCIS a copy of those documents as joint filing . just pre file tax report for last year so you have the documents that you can submit to USCIS 

 

 

Would that require us to file a joint taxes on the US Citizens tax for this year? We don't have an SSN or ITIN for the UK citizen as we were planning to do married filing separately. 

We both have jobs but I believe i do not have life insurance with my job. Or at least i have never been told of such 

We have received an RFE asking us to prove that the marriage is bonafide. 

Has anyone applied for global entry as a U.K. citizen while having a CR1 spousal visa processing? I want to do this just as I travel a few times a year and it will definitely be beneficial in my eyes to have swifter entry 

also, are global entry application currently being processed? If so, how long do they currently take. And once the conditional acceptance has arrived, what are the next steps? Flying to US and having an interview? 

1 hour ago, Wuozopo said:

For 2020 tax filing, do your parents still plan to claim you as their dependent on their  2020 tax return?

No they do not 

9 minutes ago, Wuozopo said:

The U.K. citizen does not have to file. If you can get the UK spouse an ITIN and file jointly, I think you will be surprised at the difference in  taxes/refund. 
Separate are taxed at a higher rate

You lose some tax benefits 

You don’t get that extra $12,400 off your taxable income for the spouses standard deduction.

If qualified for the second stimulus $600 per person, your spouse could get $600 when you file jointly.

 

There is so many things I have and haven’t heated about in regards to tax. Maybe if I lay out situation down you’ll advise what is best? Maybe that’s easier. 
 

So the USC earns more than the U.K. citizen. Not by a significant amount at all but we both currently earn maybe 23-27k a year. 

UK citizen earns all theirs in the U.K. and likewise with the USC. 

I’m not sure if it helps but neither of us own a house (I saw something about certain assets playing a factor so thought I’d mention this) we are both only renting where we live. 
 

Also in regards to the stimulus check the USC ticked dependent last year and did not get a stimulus anyway.  And this will be the first year actually declaring single (well, married filing separately or married/joint) 

From what I’ve gathered, I can’t see either one having a significant impact on tax for the USC? I’m not sure though. Tax/Accounts is not something I have deeply looking into over the past few years 

On 2/10/2021 at 6:46 PM, Wuozopo said:

You can’t file jointly with a NRA (nonresident alien). NRAs have to file a 1040NR by themselves. Your wife, who is in the UK still, will need an ITIN and a written statement signed by both electing for the UK spouse to be treated as a resident alien for tax purposes. 
 

Maybe I can come up with a sample tax return of how a return like yours would look. We use TurboTax desktop which I haven’t installed yet. Not sure how to post something like that on here with limited upload space. Ideas? 

I’m not sure on how you’d upload it. You could use a Google drive link maybe? 
 

if the USC files Married Filing Separately, does the U.K. citizen need to file any US tax return if all of their income is made in the U.K. and they live in the U.K.? 

Does anyone know where to find a step by step guide of filing jointly to a NRA who is filing 2555 as they are from the UK?

So we got married in December last year and we are looking at filing taxes. We have read the different ways to file taxes but are confused about how it all works. I assume the best option is for us to file separately but i will explain the situation below to get better answers.

We filed for our i130 this month. The UK citizen has never earned or worked in the USA but i understand we now need a ITIN for the UK Citizen. In terms of actually filing his taxes, how does this work? Do we have to put all of his UK income in a separate tax form when filing separately? I read something about a UK citizen needing to earn a certain high amount before paying tax in the US, how true is this? Will the UK citizen be taxed in the UK and in the US for income only earned in the UK?

Sorry this is like a foreign language to us and we want to get started early

3 hours ago, Transatlanticism said:

It's the million Dollar question. Nobody knows.

I believe that in some of the cases people are being transferred to another (slower) service center without knowing and therefore without updating their timelines - which is one possible explanation for the variance.

For example, I thought we were with Nebraska until November 2020 even though we had been transferred to Potomac in May 2020 (just a few days after we filed the petition). We only found out because we asked.

 

In my opinion, generally everything takes longer than you hope for/think. There are a few exceptions but so far that is my experience.

Thank you! How do you find out if you are transferred? Is there a number to call or anything. Also, did you file online or was it a paper based form?
 

I have seen so many people post on here saying 2022 looks likely which I think is fine but then VJs updates say that the estimated approval date is September. I think it’s a sense of false hope being created 

I’ve also noticed none of the applications from October onwards from VJ members have been approved as of yet. 
 

The VJ processing estimate page suggests that cases from August 31st 2020 are currently being processed.

Just confuses me how it all differentiates 

Hi all. Just wanted to ask a few questions on the processing times to try and determine how long things will take. 

So i have noticed applications from September 2020 (according to other VJ members' timelines) have been approved from Nebraska and some haven't. According to the USCIS processing times it is estimating 6-8 months for the processing of USC Spousal Applications. To follow this and this is where my questions come from, I have also noticed people with timelines from 2019 who have waited 300+ days for i130 approval and a further 200+ days for complete visa approval. 

What determines the incredible difference in processing times?

Also, when the case gets sent to NVC and you submit your documents etc. Is there a way of knowing when it will get sent to the local embassy (London in our case and the cases i have been looking at). 

15 minutes ago, Boiler said:

US is the land of the 2 week holiday so 10 weeks is beyond usual

 

You mention no reason why your ESTA would not be approved.

 

Just follow the normal guidance to take evidence of your ties, job is the obvious one, letter from your boss showing when you are due back.

Which is understandable but I have never entered without telling them the purpose for the visit. Last time the officer asked “how long are you staying this time” and I gave the honest answer. 
 

is it good that I have previous long visits while leaving on time or is it bad that I have frequent visits? The other thing is I’ve never been asked for proof of a return which is good because I am self employed and could do my job anywhere if I really wanted to. I never risk it but I don’t actually have ties back home like other people. The return ticket seems like it’s always been enough 

I’ve read all the posts and I’m just trying to gather information and opinions. 
 

I am from the U.K. and have an esta expiring in may. Will I be able to get a new ESTA as we filed our i130 a few weeks ago. I am planning to visit in April/May for another few weeks. Also, can I apply for a new ESTA in April if I have one valid until May? 
 

what is this unspoken rule of being outside the US longer than you come in? Since 2019 I’ve visited the US three times for 70+ days or more and have been out of the US an average of 130+ days between visits. Numbers are rough and one visit I was in 75 days out 76 days. Is this a common issue to make sure you are out of the US for a sufficient amount of time?