Nelly_M

On 11/25/2023 at 8:39 AM, alegra said:

They sent mine on Nov 18th. I got it yesterday. The appointment is scheduled for Dec. 5th I was able to see the notice online under documents

Did you have your biometric appointment by now, and how did it go? 

7 minutes ago, OldUser said:

When I did mine, my appointment notice was 1 page and had nothing to be filled. I think USCIS streamlined the process.

There is a worksheet (AIW) along with ASC appt notice that needs to be completed before the appt. It is asking for name, dob, country of birth and citizenship as well as race, gender, weight, height, eye and hair color. 
 

The I-797 notice we received in the mail is showing this address. Which service center is this? 
 

On 11/29/2023 at 8:43 PM, HarryWL said:

 

 

Good evening both of you. 

 

I just wanted to come back to this topic for some advice. So this evening according to my case tracker, my interview has been scheduled to which I should receive the correspondence in the mail in the coming days. Actually surprised how fast that happened, because I filed September 19th and it's Orlando, so you'd presume it would be busy field office. 

 

I called the IRS last week about my 2018 return and was told that processing would be delayed and my inquiry date would be February 2024. As a reminder I moved to the United States on December 18th 2018 and didn't work for the rest of the year. With all the conflicting advice on both the IRS website and tax professionals on if a return was required, I filed a return just before applying for my citizenship based on my 20k income from Canada before I had any legal status in the United States. 

 

Given the delay, and my interview potentially being in the next couple of weeks, I will only have 4 years worth of tax returns (2019-2022). Obviously the big question of if a 2018 return was even required still lingers, but do you see this being an issue for my interview? I was honestly expecting this process to take longer so I would end up with my 2023 return. 

 

Thank you.

Sorry about late reply, I just didn’t catch this sooner. I think you should be fine considering you have already filed taxes for 2018 even though it hasn’t been processed yet. You can show the proof of filing taxes for that year. Are you required to bring the actual tax returns for the last five years for your interview? 

On 11/26/2023 at 3:33 PM, OldUser said:

The biometric appointment should only take 10-15 minutes. The interaction is pretty simple. From what I recall, you fill the form on paper asking for your name, date of birth and citizenship.

Then you show ID, personnel takes your fingerprints. Something like that.

You can try going together, but I'm not sure you're going to be let in.

 

Is that a different form in addition to biometric appointment notice? The appt notice has two pages and one has to be filled out with biometric information.

2 hours ago, OldUser said:

I bet it does. Online printout is not exactly the same as printed version in the mail. Still, you should attend the appointment even if you don't receive it in the mail. How long ago was the biometrics appointment scheduled? It can take 4-6 weeks to get the paper in the mail, especially during holidays.

Yes, the appointment will be attended. We just want to make sure we have the right documents before the appt. 
Also, my husband doesn’t speak perfect English. I wonder if it ok for me to go with him for his biometric appt just in case he might need some help or is it just in and out type of thing? I don’t know how biometric appt looks like. 

On 11/25/2023 at 11:22 AM, alegra said:

Are you able to see the date in your online account? If so and you know what date it is for sure, you can probably print and bring. The one I received by mail its on a regular white paper. You can always call your application center and ask

I am just reading the instructions for biometric appointment, and it says to bring the ASC appointment notice (Form I-797C), but the version I printed online doesn’t have form I-797C written on it, just ASC Appointment Notice. Does your version state Form I-797C anywhere? 

23 hours ago, alegra said:

Are you able to see the date in your online account? If so and you know what date it is for sure, you can probably print and bring. The one I received by mail its on a regular white paper. You can always call your application center and ask

Yes, I was able to locate the ASC appt notice online with the actual date. I guess I will just print it out instead of waiting for the original to arrive in the mail. 

2 hours ago, alegra said:

They sent mine on Nov 18th. I got it yesterday. The appointment is scheduled for Dec. 5th I was able to see the notice online under documents

Hopefully we will get ours in the mail soon. I wonder if we do not receive anything in the mail by then, do we just print the documents from online account and take it to the biometric appointment?

On 11/18/2023 at 6:28 AM, alegra said:

We have similar timelines. They received my package on 8th, sent it on 10th, and now on 18th schedule biometrics. What worries me that I have not received a single letter  by mail. You would think that if they sent it on 10th I would I also have informed delivery, and that does not show anything from them coming. Did yo receive your letters by mail yet?

Do you mind sharing when your biometric appointment is scheduled? 
I just saw online that ours was scheduled as well on 11/25 (even though today is 11/24), but I cannot see for which date. We did not receive anything in the mail yet. I am just wondering what is the time window between notice of biometric appointment and the actual appointment. 

Here is our timeline so far:

package was delivered on 11/14/23

received a confirmation text on 11/16/23

check cashed on 11/17/23

Nothing has been received in the mail so far. I am not sure what is the typical time  needed to receive a notice. 
 

Also, we have a few days vacation getaway planned the first week of December. I hope that we will not have to postpone it in case we have to get biometrics done. I never knew that’s done soon after submission, but reading some comments it seems that comes soon after (in case it is needed). Do they send  us a notice in the mail or do we have to rely on the online account? 

Hi! I just sent mine yesterday to Elgin lockbox via FedEx with signature required. Now, I am thinking what if there is nobody there to sign? I haven’t thought about that earlier. I wonder if anyone has been sending it this way before. 

4 hours ago, OldUser said:

There's no requirement for a cover letter.

A petitioner can write one in their name. No need to sign anything.

 

In my case, a lawyer wrote a cover letter in their name and never signed it.

Great, thanks. I saw some samples with signature line, but it wasn’t specified for who. I am glad that it’s not a requirement. One less thing to worry about. 

Does cover letter for I-751 need to signed? If yes, by whom: petitioner, US citizen spouse, or both? 
I am the one putting it together for my husband. 

Do we have to sign a cover letter including with I-751? 

1 hour ago, HarryWL said:

 

I agree, the whole situation around partial tax years is very confusing (even when you have zero income in the USA). I personally went off information on the IRS website and individuals on this forum that said it was required even if you're a PR for 1 calendar day of that tax year. I filed a 1040 with a 2555 (Foreign Earned Income), as married filing separately. I filed a tax exception based on physical presence test, as I lived in Canada from January 1st to December 17th of 2018.

 

The whole thing is still confusing to me and one big headache. I'm just hoping my N-400 interview doesn't happen till around March so that I'll have my 5th tax transcript from this upcoming tax season, so I can use that instead of 2018. I'm also hoping the tax return I filed comes back saying I owe $0, otherwise that'll be another headache. 

Definitely a big headache for all of us in this situation. Thank you for sharing your experience. I hope your interview will go smoothly and that all your taxes will be finalized by then. 

1 hour ago, Crazy Cat said:

1.  No.  Not at all.  

2.  I assume you didn't file the first year because you weren't required to file.  If you were not required to file, I don't see an issue that you didn't file.  Just explain it with that letter.  

Note:  Wife and I have filed jointly every year after 1st year.

Thanks a lot for your help.

Yes, we didn’t file because we were not required to file given the circumstances.

We have filed jointly the following year and we are planning to continue filing jointly in the future. 

13 minutes ago, Crazy Cat said:

Taxes the first year can be very complicated. Income of foreign spouse, tax treaties, etc. all come into play.  I always advise first year residents to consult a competent tax professional.  I was just qualifying what you said.  But yes, all income for entire year must be properly reported if filing a joint return. Good luck. 

 

Note:  I have a very, very good CPA.  In 2017 (wife's 1st year), my wife and I filed Married-Filing Separately., thus the "entire year" wasn't applicable.

Thank you for sharing this as you seem very knowledgeable about this topic. It is greatly appreciated. I have two questions in regards to this:

1) Did married filing separately for that year affect your I-751 in any way?

2) Is it possible to file as married filing separately retroactively for the first year now considering that we already filed jointly the following year (in case we still need to file)? 

1 minute ago, Crazy Cat said:

Depends.  If you filed a joint return, your income for the entire year would have to be reported. 

Are you sure? Even if that is the case, what my husband earned overseas in that year is still bellow the minimum amount required to file taxes. Hopefully, I will have this figured out before naturalization lol. Right now, I am focused on I-751 and for the year in question we would submit the letter with explanation that we didn’t file since no income. Not sure what else to do. 

2 hours ago, HarryWL said:

 

I got my PR on December 18th 2018, so I was technically a resident for 13 days. You still have to file a tax return even if you're a resident for 1 day (as I found out a few days prior to applying for citizenship). I had zero US income, but I had to declare my Canadian income and convert it into USD. I then attached a foreign income exclusion document and mailed it to the IRS. That was about 6 weeks ago, I'm going to call them in like 2 weeks to find out the status of my return. Tax returns don't really have any effect on I-751, but you need 5 years of tax returns for N-400 when you go for citizenship. I've also been waiting for my I-751 waiver since September 2020, at this point a combo interview is more likely than not. 

My understanding is that any income earned prior to becoming a conditional PR is not counted as taxable income here in the US. You were already paying taxes in the country where you were living and working prior to becoming a PR. At least that’s how it was explained to me. Any income earned from the moment you become a PR whether it was earned here or worldwide is taxable and should be reported on your income tax return if above certain amount as set by IRS rules. We have a letter from a tax specialist saying that we were not required to file tax for a year in which we had no income that I was planning to submit with I-751. I was also told that IRS might reject a tax return with zero income. Not really sure how this can affect a naturalization process. 

12 minutes ago, HarryWL said:

 

I filed my 2018 tax return a month ago, a few days prior to applying for citizenship. I guess the old saying better late than never applies. It's actually pretty easy to file within past 3 years, usually past that it gets annoying.

Did you have any income for that year? Did not filing for that year affect your I-751 in any way? We have a letter from tax specialist saying that we are not required to file if there is no income. Not really sure how to go about this one. 

1 hour ago, OldUser said:

Up to you as long as it's consistent for all evidence

Thanks for your help. My husband and I opened up a small savings account abroad while I was living there. Now that my husband and I are both here in the US, we no longer use it even though the account is still active. I enclosed that account information when I was submitting I-130. I wonder if I should be including it again with I-751. What are your thoughts on this one?

When putting the evidence together, are we supposed to put the most recent on top or the oldest records for example car insurance, bank statements etc?

For photos, do we need to write an A-number and petitioner’s name on each page with photos, or number the pages?