Mchole

Hi everyone, I apologize as I'm sure this is being asked a lot but I have a quick question in regards to the new guidelines.

My wife came to the US under K-1 in November of 2020 and did her overseas medical in October 2020. We applied for the AOS in February of 2021 and included the DS-3025 with the application. She did not receive her flu vaccine during the medical even though it was during flu season because there weren't any flu vaccines so we were told that we wouldn't need one for the interview. The DS-3025 was marked complete.

We never received an RFE so far and are currently in the case is ready to be scheduled for interview stage. I am reading mixed information however on the vaccine and medical requirements. On the official uscis website and i-693 instructions it says if AOS is filed within 1 year of medical overseas, it is not required to have a new medical. However I am also reading elsewhere that if you didn’t file AOS package within 60 days of medical, it expires in 1 year.

What is correct? Do we need a new medical? Would we need a flue vaccine or do a completely new medical just for a flu vaccine if needed? 

Hey everyone - I tried filing my taxes through the free turbotax option as I only have my income from my job to show and no additional deductions etc. With my wife coming to the US in November and getting married before Dec 2020, I was rushing to file as I needed to submit my 1040 with our AOS application. I didn't do much research as I now see that it would have been better to file married jointly. I filed married separately but since my wife has no SSN/ITIN number, what should I do now? Turbotax allowed me to print out my 1040 and said in the instructions to mail it it in because I can't provide a SSN for my wife. Since we are filing separately, do I need to also file for a ITIN or do I just write NRA for the SSN? I am still getting a decent tax refund so I don't care if I would have gotten more if I filed jointly, I just want to make sure that everything is being done correctly and I won't have problems with the IRS. Do I just mail my 1040 to the IRS as it is printed out from the turbotax site or do I need to add anything else to it?

Also, with us being from NJ, there was a question about whether we have insurance or not. I had insurance during 2020 under my parents and my wife obviously didn't. I am not sure if I answered that correctly (she got enrolled in January under my employer). There is something about an insurance mandate and a penalty if you don't have insurance but does she or I qualify for an exception? She was here for less than 60 days in 2020 and I was under a family insurance. There is a form (Schedule NJ-HCC) to complete for that as well attached to the 1040 where I need to fill in exemptions and dates on it which looks confusing. 

On 1/26/2021 at 2:11 PM, carmel34 said:

You can file taxes now.  I just did mine over the weekend, using Turbo Tax.  The federal return is "pending" as the IRS will not start processing them until Feb. 12, but I can print or download a copy of the 1040 and all supporting schedules.  I recommend that you do your 2020 tax return now as married filing jointly, either by paper or online, and include a copy of your full return and all schedules/W2, with your AOS package.  Good luck!

I filed with turbo tax as well, filing married separately,  but due to my wife not having a SSN I can't e-file the return. I must send it in through mail. I was able to print out the 1040 however all filled out. Can I still submit this 1040 along with my W2 for our AOS prior to mailing it in? I know that the mail in processing takes longer now (according to IRS site) and we need to send in our AOS by next week as her 90 day ends next Friday. We have submitted an application for her SSN but we were told by the office that that our case requires additional checks so it will take over 4 weeks to process. We are sort of on a time crunch and freaking out that we might do something wrong with our documentation for the AOS although we have everything else. 

Thank you to everyone - yeah I am well above the 125% but just wasn't sure as I just started this job 10 months ago and haven't filed taxes yet for 2020 as I received my W-2 this week. I appreciate the answers to the questions !

3 minutes ago, Ayrton said:

The US spouse is always the main sponsor, so they must fill out the main 864.

 

If your current salary/hourly rate is higher than the poverty line, you don't need a joint sponsor. Since you didn't file tax the past years, you will have to write down a statement explaining why you were not required to do so.

 

Your parents are not part of your spouse's household. i-944 is mainly about the immigrant, not the USC spouse.

Thank you so much for the response ! I would still count as part of the household however, correct? 
 

Also, on our marriage certificate it only lists her maiden name. Females in our country in Europe have their last names end in ska and male ends in ski. She wants to use ska with my last name as well (mine ends in ski). When we applied for a SSN a few weeks back, they allowed her to write in my last name with the ska variation. Would this cause issues when filling out the forms for AOS? Can we write her new last name on them or do we need to write her maiden? We are worried about potential RFE’s about it but we already did the change on her SSN application. 

Hi everyone ! My wife and I are going through the AOS process now filling up all the paperwork. When we filled for her K-1 in 2019, my mother was the sponsor and filled out the affidavit of support papers. I was unemployed at the time and live with my parents. I started a new job in March 2020 however and just received my W-2. 
 

Do I still need a sponsor or can I include my W-2, paystubs, and employment verification letter as proof of income without any recent tax history? I will be filing taxes before the deadline this year but won’t be able to in time as her visa expires in a few weeks. Also, will I still need to fill out an affidavit of support even though I am her husband? 
 

Likewise, I do live with my parents but they don’t include me as a dependent on taxes. Do we need to include them on the i944?